You Can Do That
My first call to pastoral ministry came to me when I was eight years old. It was everything a call to ministry should be: in a church worship service, kneeling at the altar on a Sunday night, candle...
View ArticleOut in Public
On Monday, more than 400 Episcopalians spent a few hours in cold and snowy Washington, DC, praying a modern-day stations of the cross as a public witness against gun violence. More than 20 bishops were...
View ArticleRights and Responsibilities — Mary Brennan Thorpe
The NRA’s recent announcement of a grand master plan to end gun violence stunned me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have. I worked as a lobbyist at one point in my life, and I know all about positioning the...
View ArticlePlan A
Plan A Plan B, otherwise known as the “Morning After Pill” is in the news again. Recently a Federal judge lifted the FDA’s restrictions that prevented women younger than 17 from obtaining the...
View ArticleOn my ball cap
Last week, while the world focused on Boston, I drove to another part of Massachusetts with my high school Senior daughter. At our destination, we celebrated her college choice with a trip to the...
View ArticleNational Day of Prayer
Somewhere on a remote rural road in far northeast Pennsylvania, a tire company makes a statement. In tires. I drove that road for many months, wondering if I was seeing more than a collection of...
View ArticleKiss Cam
I was a Kiss Cam virgin when we went to see the Orioles at Camden Yards a couple of years ago. The minor league ball field near my house in Maine didn’t feature a big video screen, so I was surprised...
View ArticleSaving Jesus, One “Merry Christmas” at a Time
Last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a “Merry Christmas Bill” which closed some gaps in Texas public school education: Protecting religious greetings, including the phrase “Merry Christmas;”...
View ArticleEqual Recognition
We’ve said it over and over this past week. “Hello, Federally Recognized Wife!” It’s part of our celebration of and wonder at the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Windsor v. United States. Two women...
View ArticleWhy I Wear a Clergy Collar (Sometimes)
A few months ago, I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my ordination to pastoral ministry. A few weeks later, I wore a clergy collar for the first time. To set the scene: I didn’t go to seminary...
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