Dear HoC members and friends, In light of the violence and unrest going on in our world, I’ve been drawn to this prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. I encourage us all to pray this prayer, praying for peace in our world: The Peace Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where [...]

Dear HoC members and friends, It’s stewardship season! It is also a season of gratitude! I’m grateful for all of you, and for all of your support of our church through sharing your gifts, your time, and your resources. Because of your generous support, we have continued to be a faithful Christian presence, worshipping together, [...]

Dear HoC Members and Friends, I’m back from my sabbatical, and I’m ready for another fall season here at HoC! Fall is a great time of year for a fresh start. As I return to the regular rhythms of work and worship post-sabbatical, I am sensing it is a good time for us as a [...]

Greetings friends! I don’t know about you, but these last fourteen weeks have just flown by. By the time you read this I will have finished my fourteenth and final Sunday at Head of Christiana Presbyterian Church. It has been a real pleasure to get to know you and serve as your pastor during this [...]

As I write this piece for the July newsletter, we are two days away from the summer solstice, the official start of summer. Barb and I live in an adult community in Smyrna. Given the nature of adult communities we do not have much of a yard, but we do have a garden in front [...]

Greetings in this season of renewal. The Spring flowers have started to fade, the trees have ensconced us with their pollen and summer flowers are popping up out of the ground. May and June are two of my favorite months. As I sit in my office at Head of Christiana watching the wind move the [...]

Greetings. I look forward to serving you as your Bridge Pastor for the next couple of months. I also look forward to getting to know you over the next couple of months as we journey together while Pastor Hilary takes this time for rest and renewal. I generally, with few exceptions, follow the Revised Common [...]

Well, it’s finally time…after more than a year of planning, my fourteen-week sabbatical starts this month. Sunday, April 16th is the last Sunday I will be with you before my sabbatical begins. You all will be in very good hands under the leadership of your bridge pastor, Mark Douyard. Mark is excited to be with [...]

The beginning of the new year is an appropriate time to reflect upon the past year and set intentions for the year to come. A good practice for this kind of reflection is one from the Catholic tradition called, “Examen”. This practice was devolved by Catholic Theologian, St. Ignatius of Loyola in the 1500s. Originally [...]

As we enter the month of November, it will soon be time to celebrate Thanksgiving. As Christians, we are called to be a people of gratitude and thanksgiving, remembering all of God’s good gifts to us. We’ve faced many challenged as a church over the past few years, yet we have much for which to [...]