I don’t remember whose idea it was. Someone in one of our leadership groups said, “What if we had a baptismal service in the harbor?” Then came all the reasons it might not work. We have never tried it before. It will be cold. Where can we hold it? Will anyone come? How will we […]
A Church Worth Visiting on Vacation
If you’ve been around CHPC for a while, you know that the Toones take vacation mid-summer. We did and it was a wonderful, restful time. Thank you for that gift. But, you might ask, why did we see you guys sneaking around here on Sunday morning and Monday nights in July and August? Because, we […]
Discovering Cherries & Prison Ministry
You know what’s the best thing about settling into a new home? Finding all the undiscovered treasures the owner left behind. Guess what we have found? Rainier cherry trees–2 of them! An apple tree, a pear tree (which I initially thought was a “suck-uh! tree.” I’m glad I didn’t chop it down), and huckleberry bushes. […]
Summer Reading
Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing, friends from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, have been encouraging conversation about the adventurous life of the Christian and the questions of those seeking God. I know many of you have picked up the books they have written about these same things as you dig deeper to make God known yourself! We […]
God’s Jubilee
Jubilee! We’ve used the word a lot and attached it to 50 years, but what was Jubilee about other than a marker of time? We’re not celebrating Jubilee only because Chapel Hill began as a church 50 years ago. We are celebrating Jubilee because we want to proclaim something unique about who we are as […]
God’s Story
While being examined for ordination, I was asked this question: “You state that your preference is for a liturgical service. You are in your 20’s. What place does liturgy have within your generation, and if you are tasked with leading a modern worship service, how will you defer to your preference for liturgy?” There is […]
Seeking Answers
In college, I went on a rugby tour to Canada. For two weeks, our team of 26 was cooped up like chickens in a private school in the middle of Vancouver Island. As the only Christian there, I had many great opportunities to be a witness to those guys. One of my roommates was a […]
School Visits Day Two
(internet has been out so I’m send this out a couple days after the fact) School Visits Day 2: School in the Bush Our day began with a 2-3 hour drive to Champhanji, a school definitely in the bush. We rode with Nancy, Dr Chilenji, and Rev. Peter Chipeta, the Education Director for CCAP. Gerald Phiri was […]
Man Up!
Seven years ago we launched a program that changed our congregation. Of all the educational offerings over my 25 years, none has impacted and continued to reverberate through our church like this one. Do you remember? Have you heard of it? Men’s Life. The theme for that first year was, The Quest for Authentic Manhood. […]
Visiting Schools in the Bush
The day began with a drive out by the Malawi border. We visited Kaponga Hills — a school I have visited twice before. The school built houses for government teachers and now they have one teacher from the government as well as Mr. Mtonga (who has been at the school many years) and a new volunteer teacher. The […]