Each week our local paper, the County Down Spectator, publishes a short column from a member of the local clergy. Once a month, Groomsport Presbyterian is asked to take the column. While the paper doesn't publish it online, here is what I wrote for this week's paper.
Read MoreOne month ago today, Mary Erin and I arrived at Belfast International Airport after about 20 hours of travel from Kansas City. We were tired and jet-lagged, and I know I was more than a little apprehensive about what the coming year would bring. Even when I moved from Missouri across the country to Princeton, New Jersey, I always knew in the back of my head that if things got bad enough, I could always just get in my car and drive home. Now, for the first time in my life, I was in a place where that simply wasn't an option. As we gathered our bags and went through customs, I was wondering what I had gotten myself (and Mary Erin) into.
Read MoreFor quite a few years now, I have been working toward ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church. This journey started long before I even realized that ministry was where I was being called, but even after realizing that maybe I should listen to the many people in my life saying I should be a pastor, it took me a while to move from my life as Mr. Miller, the debate coach, back to Chris, the seminary student. It has been a long journey, but these last few years have been some of the most wonderful, if most challenging, of my life.
Read MoreThree years ago, as I was packing up my classroom at Lee's Summit West High School, trying to make sure things were in order for the next Director of Debate & Forensics, I was wondering what it would be like to leave the world of Mr. Miller the debate coach so I could go back to the other side of the desk to become a student again. I knew that in a few weeks short weeks, I would be loading up the truck to make the move to the strange new world of Princeton, New Jersey to begin my summer program in Biblical Greek. I knew that I had made the decision to follow this call toward ministry that had been building in my heart and mind for a long time. I knew that I would be leaving almost everything and everyone I knew and putting a 20 hour drive between me and them. Frankly, I wondered if I had made a monumental mistake.
Read MoreOn April 11th, 2015 the Princeton Seminary Choir was joined by members of the Trenton Children's Chorus for a wonderful concert. We walked through the church year, featuring music ranging across the Christian tradition - from Orthodox chant to gospel to grand anthems featuring festival brass.
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