Central Christian Church(Disciples of Christ)

As I write my Last Word this week, we are hours away from the third night of Vacation Bible School. In order to accommodate the many young families with working parents (and children in summer programs), we moved our VBS to the evening this year and have had wonderful response. Not only do we have [...]

Summer is heating up! For many of us, that means things slow down and speed up at the same time. Certainly, the kinds of things we do change when the weather gets warmer – but our need to be rooted in the love and grace of God never changes. Even as we travel or go [...]

Graduation season is in full bloom. This year my youngest child will move her tassel from one side of the mortarboard to the other. Ready or not, life moves on! In some ways, graduation is kind of a forced “goodbye.” It’s about as close to a rite of passage as we have in our culture. [...]

This has been an unusually wet and cold spring in Ohio. Last week, for a day or two, it seemed like we skipped spring entirely and jumped into the middle of summer. It was hot and humid and not at all spring-like. As I write this, it is back to cold and wet again. Like [...]

There are two pillars in my life that have been constant from my very earliest memories onward: my family and the church. In fact, in most of my memories the two are inseparable. My parents met in a CYF group and the church has always been central to their lives. When I was growing up, [...]

I once heard someone compare the church to a construction company. He said that just as in the construction business there are people whose job it seems to be to tear down and others whose job it is to build up. Unfortunately, sometimes in the church they are working on the same project!

For many years, I called Sunday “the Sabbath.” And certainly many of us treat Sunday as a Sabbath day. However, the Sabbath recognized by Jesus (and all Jews) begins on Friday at sunset and ends at sunset on Saturday. The reason the church gathers on Sunday morning is not because it is the traditional Sabbath, [...]

I grew up in a church that was known in the community for great music and high liturgy. We had full blown Christmas and Easter pageants every year – with adults in the leading roles. How excited I was when I was finally old enough to serve as shepherd in the Christmas play or take [...]

The end of our Lenten journey is nearing. Almost as if on cue, nature is cooperating with the Easter drama as the weather warms and creates the yearly miracle of resurrection. As I write this, the sun is shining brightly off the white blossoms covering the tree across the street from my study window. Once [...]

I was reminded the other day of something special that happened at the Seattle Special Olympics many years ago. There were nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run [...]