Reflections of a Running Reverend

Our older son sings in his school's "honor" choir and one of their songs for their Christmas tour and home concert is "Just One Candle" by Teresa Jennings. I love its harmony. It starts with a solo, then a duet, and then progresses to the full choir. What great symbolism for how the flame of one candle can spread from "wick to wick", from person to person, when it is shared. If I light just one candle and you light just one, too, and we pass the flame from wick to wick, from us to you and you... I am also drawn to the song's message, especially in the midst of the "darkness" in our world today. When I was watching them perform this song, I found myself in tears, touched by the words and realizing that it really takes a simple act by you and me and everyone else in the world... And if we keep it going around the world, you'll see the world is glowing with the light that came from you and me! Christmas continues to become

This Saturday, I will be running the Willow Solstice Marathon in Willow, Alaska for the third straight year. Last year, I did it as a prayer run, playing on the theme of it being held on the winter solstice, the longest night (or at least the Saturday closest to it) and dedicating the run to those who are in the "longest nights" of their lives. I plan to do that again this weekend. I am reposting excerpts from a blog post I wrote a year ago because my words then are still my words now as I again dedicate this run in prayer and solidarity for you who are living in darkness right now. +++ I am running the Willow Winter Solstice Marathon this Saturday. It will be another prayer run for me. This time, I'm running for those who can't. Let me explain. From its name, the Willow Marathon is held on a Saturday closest to the winter solstice, the day when the darkness is longest. In some churches, a Longest Night or Blue Christmas service is held and is specificall

I used to run with earphones and listen to music. I do not anymore.  On one level, it's a safety issue. I would like to be fully aware of my surroundings and be able to react accordingly. When I run on streets and sidewalks, I would like to hear if a car is coming or if a fellow runner or biker wants to pass me. When I'm on the trails, I certainly would like to hear it if a bear or a moose is close by. There is also a deeper level to my giving-up earphones, one that's more spiritual. I've said before that running for me is a spiritual discipline ( read here ) . When I run, I am able to commune with God. A long run allows me to clear my mind and process my thoughts and emotions. There is something about the sound of my feet hitting the ground in sync with my breathing that soothes and centers me. To that cadence, I say a mantra that's based on Philippians 4:13, my life verse. Having earphones and music would not allow me to that. On this level, I would like to b

One of the traditional practices at Thanksgiving is to go around the table and let each answer the question, "What are you thankful for?" The responses are varied in depth and content, depending on each person and what or how much they wish to share. But one thing is evident in this practice: Each of us has a story. Here's a video that illustrates my point. Please take time to watch it before reading the rest of my post. Everyone has a story, of what they are thankful for as well as what they are struggling with; what they celebrate and what they grieve or regret; their triumphs as well as their trials. Each person represents a story of life unfolding. Perhaps this is one of the keys in responding to Jesus' charge to us to "welcome the the stranger" (Matthew 25:35). There is a lot of conversation now around welcoming of refugees. There is an ongoing conversation in our churches around what it means to be truly welcoming of all. Perhaps

November is typically Stewardship month in many United Methodist Churches. During this time we receive pledge cards and are asked to either begin or renew our commitment of planned giving to support the mission and ministry of our local churches. This challenge is framed within the context of our membership vows to support the church with "our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our serve and our witness." We are asked to make a commitment for the coming year. And while we don't know what the future holds, financially and otherwise, we are asked to make the commitment in faith that God would help us honor the promise that we make. It holds us accountable. Let me explain... When I sign-up to run a marathon or an ultra, first, I tell my family and my close friends. Then, I post it on social media and sometimes even blog about, especially if I am doing it as a prayer run or am running for a cause. But why do I do this, you may ask. When I sign-up for a marathon and tel

This post is the last of a six-part series on the points I made in my Superintendent's Address in June. These are six things I am passionate about in my role as Superintendent and these are six things I am hoping that clergy and laity in the Alaska Conference would take seriously. To review, here are the first five with links to the first five posts: Engage: We need to identify and engage our mission field. Welcome : We need to cultivate a culture of genuine welcome. Disciple : We need to live a culture of discipleship. Risk : We need to allow a culture of experimentation and innovation to thrive. Connect : We need to recover a culture of connection among us. The last word is Call. We need to foster a culture of call in our churches. Our faith communities need to be spaces where calls from God are discerned, made certain and nurtured. I was able to discern my call to ministry through the encouragement of folks in my home church. They fostered a safe space where I

I am continuing t he 6-part series on the points I made in my  Superintendent's Address   in June. Again, t hese are six things I am deeply passionate about and encourage our pastors, lay people and churches to be serious about them as well.  For this fifth installment, I  would like to talk about the 6th point I made in the address, because of its relevance to current events in the life of our conference. The need to connect Photo Credit: Doug Handlong Last week, pastors and other professional church workers of the Alaska Conference came together for their annual retreat at beautiful Birchwood Camp. The retreat followed closely on the heels of the New Clergy Orientation which also at the camp. Photo Credit: Doug Handlong Doug Handlong, chair of the Professional Ministries Unit who organized the retreat,  led us in a time of deep sharing of joys and concerns ending with a time of praying for one another. Spiritual Director Rebecca Johnson led the group in a gui

This is the fourth installment of a 6-part series on the points I made in my Superintendent's Address in June. These are six things I am deeply passionate about and encourage our pastors, lay people and churches to be serious about them as well. In this year's charge conferences, these will comprise our main talking points during our time together. Our reality In many, if not all, of our churches and ministry settings, we’re finding that a lot of the ways we do things are no longer relevant . The world is constantly changing. Technology is developing at a very rapid pace. The demographics in our communities and neighborhoods have shifted dramatically over the years. Many of the buildings and spaces we have are no longer used in the ways they were meant to be used, and sadly, they sit unused or underutilized. Many of our methods of ministry and mission are just not pertinent anymore. Even our churches' standing and role in the community are no longer what they used

The third point I made in my Superintendent's Address (which I continue to make now) has to do with the first part of our mission as United Methodists: " to make disciples of Jesus Christ. " What to do with those we welcome In last week's blog post , we talked about cultivating a culture of genuine  welcome as one of the six priorities I would really want our churches to be serious about. The next questions then is: What do we do with those we welcome? The United Methodist Book of Discipline (par. 122) outlines the process for carrying out our mission as follows: " We make disciples as we: Proclaim the gospel, seek, welcome and gather persons into the body of Christ; Lead persons to commit their lives to God through baptism by water and the spirit and profession of faith in Jesus Christ; Nurture persons in Christian living through worship, the sacraments, spiritual disciplines, and other means of grace, such as Wesley's Christian conferencing

As indicated in the title, this is the second of a six-part series on the points I made in my first Superintendent's Address in June. These six points represent what I am most passionate about in our common ministry here in Alaska. These are six areas I am hoping that churches and individuals will be serious about. That's My Spot! A good number of years ago, a Filipino couple came to Anchorage as immigrants. Being active and devoted United Methodist leaders back home, they went to one of our UM churches here in the city. They arrived as the service was about to start. The sanctuary was half full and there were a lot of empty pews. They picked a spot close to the back. Just as they had gotten settled and were reviewing the contents of the bulletin, an Anglo couple wearing name tags (obviously members of that church) arrived, stood by the pew where the Filipinos were seated and sternly said, "That's our spot!"The newcomers apologized and gathered their belon

A month ago I wrote a summary of my first Superintendent's Address that I gave at annual conference in June. (If you missed it, read it here .) It was an abridged version outlining the six points I emphasized and I promised to expound on each of them at a later time. That time has come. For the next six weeks I will be sharing my thoughts on each of the six aspects of mission and ministry in Alaska that I am deeply passionate about. My prayer is that you would catch the passion and share in the vision. If your church closes its doors today, would your community notice it? This question was my biggest take-away from a Rethink Church workshop we had a few years ago. It underscores the importance of our call to community engagement. We are called to reach out to our neighbors as the hands and feet of Jesus. Is our church's existence in the neighborhood impactful enough that closing it would be detrimental to the community as a whole? Or is our church visible only to its memb