By Laura Stephens-Reed “Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart…” This has long been my favorite hymn. It was sung at my wedding, and it will be sung at my funeral. It sums up well my take on the journey of faith. We all have those aspects of church that resonate most deeply. … Continue reading
By Caleb Mynatt When the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into lockdown, it was an unprecedented and often chaotic transition for churches to make. And while figuring out the logistics of virtual business meetings and livestreaming worship services certainly wasn’t easy, there is one group of church leaders that perhaps had the toughest transition of … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed When I open my home office door after a coaching call, I hear it: the blessed sound of silence. It has been all too rare over these last fifteen months, since my husband has also been working from the couch and my son has been virtually schooling from our den. I describe … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed It was a lovely fall mid-day, if a bit breezy. My husband and I had taken a trip to Atlanta, the city where we met in seminary. We decided to enjoy lunch on the porch at one of our favorite restaurants. We talked and ate chips and guac, enjoying the food, one … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed The book of Acts represents a significant shift in the trajectory of scripture. For Christians, the Bible to this point has been about God setting up the world for humans’ delight and care, God’s attempts to build a relationship with humankind, and humankind’s self-absorption and short attention span. God, seeing how all … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed The honesty and vulnerability of John 20:19-31 are the reasons why this passage is, hands down, my favorite in the Bible. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be a disciple on that first Easter evening? In John, two of the Twelve have seen the empty tomb and believed, but … Continue reading
By Layne Smith When will we be able to gather safely in person with friends, colleagues, coworkers, and extended family members? So many of us are “Zoomed” out. We dread looking at the screen with everyone in a little box. We long to regain some sense of normalcy in our lives. We miss the touch, … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed Working at home is hard. Being on Zoom for multiple hours a day makes us want to tear out our hair. The fatigue that comes from seeing our own camera view and adjusting our faces accordingly is real. Don’t be so quick to kick video calls to the curb once we can … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed Back before Christmas, the website Masterclass was offering a two-for-one membership deal. The opportunity to learn about any subject I could imagine was more than my inner nerd could pass up. I can virtually sit at the feet of experts in the arts, sciences, athletics, history, and more. A neuroscientist is currently … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed In normal years I hold the liturgical line, waiting until after Thanksgiving to put up the Christmas tree. In 2020, though, all bets are off. The tree was up by mid-November. I know I wasn’t alone in skipping ahead. I was so glad that I did, because unboxing and hanging the ornaments … Continue reading
