Author Archives: shepherd
Father Slash Mother
I have been out of the gender wars for a long time. Years ago, I adopted gender-neutral language for my own writing and preaching. I resisted it at first because in English (at least yesterday’s English), “He” is the default … Continue reading
Sunday…again
For the first time in weeks, I am looking forward to preaching. I am excited. Hopefully it will go well. This coming week, the elders have given me some time off and one of the other pastors will preach next … Continue reading
Ministry Revived
My wife is headed up to take a shower. We have guests coming for dinner. A and A are leaders in our youth ministry–volunteers who fell under E’s tyranny. We haven’t invited them because of that, but because the youth … Continue reading
The Day After…
Last night’s meeting went well. There were some tense places where it is obvious we have some real differences in approach to openness in church leadership, but what I saw were men. They were fully human and gracious. I don’t … Continue reading
Stinkin’ Themes
You might notice (unless you are completely blind) that we are changing the look around here. I loved the old theme, but it didn’t show who the author was. As long as I was the only author, that didn’t matter, … Continue reading
Litmus Test
Tonight is the big meeting. This is the one after removing E from leadership. This is the one where I make the call as to whether I rescind my resignation or keep it as written. The meeting is at my … Continue reading
Rabid Dogs Bite
SF, one of the pastors on staff, has worked very closely with E through the years. She has, in her words, become very close with E. She trusts him and considers him a friend. She understands what has happened, but … Continue reading
