Words from Washington

There is an article on the front page of today's Washington Post titled "In Major Poll, U.S. Religious Identity Appears Very Slipp...

When I was preparing to come to Mount Vernon Place UMC nearly three years ago, I was told that my job would be two-fold by someone who knew ...

There is a great demand for change happening in our country. The pages of the Washington Post are covered with quotes from people seeking ...

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent.  Today is one of those days that I yearn to arrive.  It seems as though the mar...

I spent a portion of Saturday afternoon in a glass shop. It was not part of the plan. In fact, there were four things on Saturday's ag...

While working at Duke Divinity School, I was exposed to the topic of dying well time and again through the Duke Institute on Care at the End...

I am in Durham this week, working with four other pastors and a professor from Duke Divinity School.  Dr. Jackson Carroll is in the process ...

The property transformation continues at Mount Vernon Place UMC. The hole where the new building will go is getting bigger and bigger. The...

If you have watched the news this week, then you know that Hillary Clinton had an emotional moment in New Hampshire on Monday. While meetin...

I am visiting my mother this week in Lamar, Colorado. Lamar is a small town in Southeastern Colorado with a population of 9,500 people and ...

The Gospel of Luke provides us with the best account of what happened on this night. Luke writes in the second chapter, "In that regio...

Early last Tuesday morning I was waiting for a bus. Heading downtown for a 7:30 meeting, I walked out of my building at 7:10 a.m. I turned...

Change is the one constant in life. I speak this phrase often at Mount Vernon Place . A lot is changing at Mount Vernon Place. There have be...

I had lunch last week with a friend of mine. I met Tracy at the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation , an intensive two-week academy ...

Last year, I had the privilege of hearing Michael Slaughter speak. Rev. Slaughter is the pastor of Ginghamsburg United M ethodist Church in...

Craig and I had the privilege of going to the White House last night with people from our church. The house is exquisite in every possible ...

I had an idea last week. I thought about it often - how I would write a blog entry each morning during Thanksgiving week. I would write each...

On Friday and Saturday of last week, I traveled to Atlanta to spend time going over grant applications with an organization I greatly respec...

Last week, I opened my newspaper. It was Wednesday - one of my favorite days to open the newspaper pack because of the store ads. But this...

Last Wednesda y night, on Halloween, Craig and I went to see The Bravery at the 9:30 Club in Washington. The Bravery is a band that formed w...