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Photos: Harrisonburg International Festival
The Harrisonburg International Festival brought the community to our downtown Harrisonburg neighborhood, and we were there with activities and refreshments.
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Will my my spiritual disciplines make God love me more?
Coming out of Ash Wednesday I fielded a couple of questions about why some Christians observe Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent while others do not. So I thought I’d share my answer more broadly. Some Christians hold back from Ash Wednesday and Lent because they...
How love for Jesus lights us up
While at the ECO National Gathering earlier this month, I heard a fantastic talk by Danielle Strickland based on Mary’s anointing of Jesus (John 12:1-10) that I keep thinking about. By way of reminder, Mary took some perfume, worth about a year’s wages, poured it on...
Why study the Psalms?
by Mary Duryea Why select Psalms, with 150 chapters, when there are 66 books to choose from, for a brief six-week study? That question echoed in my head as I kept coming back to the decision. It made much more sense to select a short book and do the whole thing....
God invites us to love
I’ve been thinking about love from a biblical point of view. Now, the Bible has a lot to say about love, and I’m particularly struck by the assertion of 1 John 4:16 that “God is love.” I’m struck by it because while it reads like a statement of fact, it is actually an...
How serving in leadership knit me to the church
by Martha Graham A handful of years ago, I was asked to join Session. Initially, I said “no.” It wasn't the right time, but after two more invitations, I eventually relented and agreed to serve—even though I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into. Frankly, it felt...
Praying for a breakthrough infection
The news cycle may have moved on from the phrase, but I’ve been thinking about and even praying for “breakthrough infections.” No, not for breakthrough infections of Covid, but rather for breakthrough infections of the Gospel. You see, I think far too many people have...
A prayer of lament and grief for Bridgewater
Our community has suffered a great loss after an act of violence took the lives of a Bridgewater College police officer and a security officer. Today, we are praying this prayer as we mourn and lament. We awake today, Lord, wishing it was a bad dream. But the...
Q&A: How GriefShare transformed my life
Teri's grandson had just turned 2 when he died. That was in 2020, during the depths of COVID lockdowns. A few months later, still grieving and isolated because of the pandemic, Teri joined GriefShare, which she had heard would be "a place where I could find support in...
When will everything be normal again?
I’ve been thinking about “normal.” Between Omicron and snow days, among other factors, life hasn’t felt normal lately, and while I think a “new normal” is emerging, I don’t know what it is yet. So I’ve turned to the Bible, which tells us what normal is supposed to be....
Wordle and Jesus: An online word game and sharing Jesus
Raise your hand if you’ve played Wordle. Better yet, hit share and show us your squares. For those who haven’t gotten on board the global word craze, Wordle is an online word game that gives you six chances to guess a five letter word, with hints along the way about...