Twelve of us were gathered last week at Ward EPC Church in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan for our General Assembly, the annual national gathering of our denomination. In the opening worship service, our own Julie Hawkins preached (magnificently), the first EPC woman pastor to preach to the Assembly in person. Ever. Then our own […]
What a day!
I’m not sure which was my favorite moment of last Sunday’s 10th-anniversary celebration marking our entry into the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Possibly when Carolyn Small, our last remaining charter member, stood up (surrounded by her family) to receive our acknowledgment. Or Pastor Jeremy Vaccaro’s (naughty) video. Maybe it was when more than half of the […]
One service…10:00…one service…10:00…one service 10:00…
This Sunday, we will have only one service at 10:00 am. (Did I mention that earlier?) This is one of those Sundays when we want to remember—and celebrate—the fact that we are part of a larger church family. If we typically worship at our classic service, we have brothers and sisters, large and small, that […]
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Pick just one
September 13 will mark my 35th year anniversary as your pastor. You can’t do anything for 35 years and not have some difficult moments, and we have. But for me, they are completely overshadowed by the joy and privilege of being part of a body that, I believe, God has used in significant ways to […]
Unspeakable horror
We are still watching the story unfold, but as I write this, we are receiving reports of a shooting in a Texas elementary school that has taken the lives of 18 children and at least two adults, including one teacher and the 18-year-old assailant. This is just the most recent of such barbaric acts. Ten […]
Reclaiming our slag
Cyndi and I just returned from a surprise family reunion birthday party for her mom, Peggy. (My bonus was that I got to spend three uninterrupted days with my granddaughter, Cici. She is quite the dancer! Maybe I’ll share that with you someday! ????) En route, Cyndi and I stopped in Anaconda, Montana. Anaconda was […]
Our DNA
I know, I know…it was a bit of a firehose. Pastor Julie and I were trying to cover a lot of ground in last Sunday’s team sermon on what it means to be “egalitarian.” (That is, a church that ordains both men and women to all offices of ministry.) This was the first of our […]
Welcome to the world, Kennedy!
Kennedy Quinn Tesdahl, you are such a well-mannered baby! You knew that your daddy, Pastor Gunnar, had a big Easter Sunday to lead. So, very politely, you delayed your arrival until Tuesday at 12:46 pm; all six pounds and 10 ounces of you. Welcome to the world, Kennedy, and to your Chapel Hill family! We’ve […]
Running to the empty tomb
I know…I’ve shared this story before. But every Easter I am reminded of my most memorable visit to the empty tomb of Jesus. My son, Cooper, was 12 years old and had joined Cyndi and me on one of our tours to Israel 14 years ago. Our hotel was within walking distance of the Old […]
The week that changed forever
When I lead pilgrimages to the Holy Land, I often feel obliged to say something like, “We don’t know exactly where this occurred…but it’s somewhere near here.” Two thousand years of civilization has a way of changing the landscape! For instance, when you stand in front of the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, […]