The Millennial Pastor

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The Millennial Pastor An iPhone Pastor for a Typewriter Church. www.millennialpastor.ca Blogger and Podcaster | Liturgy Nerd | High Church Lutheran | Husband | Dad. ENTJ.
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Musician, gamer, movie-lover, amateur techie.

This week has been a difficult week for my family. At the end of last week, my father was contending with what appeared ...
14/07/2024

This week has been a difficult week for my family. At the end of last week, my father was contending with what appeared to be a summer flu. Over the weekend, his symptoms worsened, to the point where he needed to be admitted to the hospital. While in the ambulance, he experienced a cardiac arrest. For the past week, he was being treated for an infection for which the medical staff have struggled to determine the source....

This week has been a difficult week for my family. At the end of last week, my father was contending with what appeared to be a summer flu. Over the weekend, his symptoms worsened, to the point whe…

This week we observed those two beginning of summer milestones: Canada Day and American Independence Day. While both day...
08/07/2024

This week we observed those two beginning of summer milestones: Canada Day and American Independence Day. While both days have muted observations in Canada (the 4th of July for obvious reasons and July 1st for colonial ones), these two statutory holidays are signs of the beginning of summer. The 4th of July is of particular significance to me for personal reasons - I was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament on a hot and muggy day in Edmonton, Alberta in 2009....

This week we observed those two beginning of summer milestones: Canada Day and American Independence Day. While both days have muted observations in Canada (the 4th of July for obvious reasons and …

This week the school year ended for school kids across the land. The crew of parents that typically meets at the bus sto...
30/06/2024

This week the school year ended for school kids across the land. The crew of parents that typically meets at the bus stop for our street each morning for 8:08 AM pick-up has been counting the days until no more school lunches need to be made, no more rousing sleepy kids for breakfast and no more needing to climb the rest of the getting-ready-for-school mountain each day....

This week the school year ended for school kids across the land. The crew of parents that typically meets at the bus stop for our street each morning for 8:08 AM pick-up has been counting the days …

This week I am able to gratefully breathe a huge sigh of relief. Only a few hours ago, I hit send on an email with my fi...
30/06/2024

This week I am able to gratefully breathe a huge sigh of relief. Only a few hours ago, I hit send on an email with my finished research paper for the course associated with my trip to Germany in May. After 8000 words and 30 pages of delving into the deeper reaches of Martin Luther’s thinking about the gospel, the church and ordained ministry in the church, my brain is swimming back and forth between the 16th and 21st centuries....

This week I am able to gratefully breathe a huge sigh of relief. Only a few hours ago, I hit send on an email with my finished research paper for the course associated with my trip to Germany in Ma…

Throughout the summer, I intend to share some of my reflections on my trip to Germany and reformation sites. However, I ...
30/06/2024

Throughout the summer, I intend to share some of my reflections on my trip to Germany and reformation sites. However, I promise I won’t write about Luther and Germany every week. Rather, this week I have some thoughts about the clergy study conference that I attended in Gimli, Manitoba this week. For folks of a certain age, there is one thing above all else that Gimli is well known for....

Throughout the summer, I intend to share some of my reflections on my trip to Germany and reformation sites. However, I promise I won’t write about Luther and Germany every week.  Rather, this…

It has been almost 3 weeks since I returned from the Reformation Study Tour to Germany that I was on in the first half o...
08/06/2024

It has been almost 3 weeks since I returned from the Reformation Study Tour to Germany that I was on in the first half of May. While I have told a few stories of my trip here and there and many photos of the trip were posted to Facebook, I am still processing and unpacking all that I had the chance to see and experience. ...

It has been almost 3 weeks since I returned from the Reformation Study Tour to Germany that I was on in the first half of May.  While I have told a few stories of my trip here and there and ma…

The task of stepping into the leadership roles of newly elected Bishops (and relatively recently elected ones) will be t...
23/04/2024

The task of stepping into the leadership roles of newly elected Bishops (and relatively recently elected ones) will be to help guide the church through the rough waters ahead. It won’t be enough to simply keep our ship of the church steady ahead, as we already know that we need to change and adapt. Bishops will be called to lead the transformation of the church, envisioning new directions, lifting up and amplifying innovators, and making space for those who have been historically excluded from leading. ...

The task of stepping into the leadership roles of newly elected Bishops (and relatively recently elected ones) will be to help guide the church through the rough waters ahead. It won’t be enough to…

This week has been a big week for my Doctor of Ministry studies. For a good chunk of the winter, I have been working on ...
13/04/2024

This week has been a big week for my Doctor of Ministry studies. For a good chunk of the winter, I have been working on a course on the Gospel of Mark, a lot of learning which I incorporated into my preaching (and will continue to) and into our Lenten study. I handed in the paper for that course early (something the 22 to 26-year-old me never achieved in Seminary)....

This week has been a big week for my Doctor of Ministry studies. For a good chunk of the winter, I have been working on a course on the Gospel of Mark, a lot of learning which I incorporated into m…

I know that Easter Sunday is supposed to be a day of surprise; the empty tomb is a reality that changes everything. But ...
13/04/2024

I know that Easter Sunday is supposed to be a day of surprise; the empty tomb is a reality that changes everything. But I didn’t expect the Easter surprise I woke up to on Easter Sunday morning this year. Knowing that this is the time of year when snow mould and spring allergies are beginning and that colds and cases of flu are going around, it should not have been surprising that I tested positive for COVID on Sunday morning....

I know that Easter Sunday is supposed to be a day of surprise; the empty tomb is a reality that changes everything. But I didn’t expect the Easter surprise I woke up to on Easter Sunday morning thi…

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” As we come to the last part of our Lenten journey, we hear this striking request in the gos...
22/03/2024

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” As we come to the last part of our Lenten journey, we hear this striking request in the gospel reading for the 5th Sunday in Lent. It has not been an easy journey to get ourselves here, Lent has not been hard on us. Week after week what has been revealed is just how much and how deeply we do not understand Jesus and the work of proclaiming the Kingdom....

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  As we come to the last part of our Lenten journey, we hear this striking request in the gospel reading for the 5th Sunday in Lent. It has not been an easy journey…

As we enter the back half of the season of Lent we are near to Laetare Sunday or ‘Rejoice Sunday’ which occurs on the 4t...
14/03/2024

As we enter the back half of the season of Lent we are near to Laetare Sunday or ‘Rejoice Sunday’ which occurs on the 4th Sunday of Lent. It is meant to be a Sunday to celebrate - in the middle of a season of solemnity - as we approach Easter. It kind of feels like a lot to unpack. Lent itself is meant to be a time that breaks us off from our usual rhythms and patterns of life....

As we enter the back half of the season of Lent we are near to Laetare Sunday or ‘Rejoice Sunday’ which occurs on the 4th Sunday of Lent. It is meant to be a Sunday to celebrate – i…

We are at the mid-point of the season of Lent. Jesus has come from the wilderness to meet us where we are. Jesus has add...
07/03/2024

We are at the mid-point of the season of Lent. Jesus has come from the wilderness to meet us where we are. Jesus has addressed our fears along with Peter’s fear. Now the lectionary turns from the Gospel of Mark to the Gospel of John, we hear the story of Jesus clearing or cleansing the temple. This story is one that needs care and attention to address it properly, particularly as it can be taken as license to condemn Jewish religious practice more broadly as if Jesus is condemning all of Second Temple Judaism by clearing out the market vendors....

We are at the mid-point of the season of Lent. Jesus has come from the wilderness to meet us where we are. Jesus has addressed our fears along with Peter’s fear. Now the lectionary turns from the G…

Our Lenten journey has taken us from the wilderness where God waited for God’s people for 40 days. And when we didn’t go...
29/02/2024

Our Lenten journey has taken us from the wilderness where God waited for God’s people for 40 days. And when we didn’t go out, God came to find us. The next stop of Lent is the hustle and bustle of Greek Caesarea Philippi. A busy tourist stop where Jesus gathers his disciples to teach about what the Messiah must endure. Just before Jesus has asked them who people say that he is and who they say he is....

Our Lenten journey has taken us from the wilderness where God waited for God’s people for 40 days. And when we didn’t go out, God came to find us.  The next stop of Lent is the hustle and bust…

Each Lenten season takes its own shape and form, at least in my experience. Whether it is things going on in the world, ...
22/02/2024

Each Lenten season takes its own shape and form, at least in my experience. Whether it is things going on in the world, things happening locally in the congregation, things happening in our personal lives or simply the fact of getting older, each year Lent has a different slant to it. Who can forget the Lenten season of 2020, during which we learned just how quickly the world and the church can adapt to change?...

Each Lenten season takes its own shape and form, at least in my experience. Whether it is things going on in the world, things happening locally in the congregation, things happening in our persona…

Sometimes being a pastor and being a dad can intersect in interesting ways. Recently, my son was commenting on my sermon...
05/02/2024

Sometimes being a pastor and being a dad can intersect in interesting ways. Recently, my son was commenting on my sermons. Surprisingly, he seems to mostly appreciate my preaching, but in our most recent conversation he remarked, “Dad, you talk about depressing stuff a lot in your sermons.” What followed was a good conversation about what kinds of things are important in sermons, and more generally the ways and places that God meets us and gets involved in our lives....

Sometimes being a pastor and being a dad can intersect in interesting ways. Recently, my son was commenting on my sermons. Surprisingly, he seems to mostly appreciate my preaching, but in our most …

Mark is my favourite Gospel. This year we are in the Lectionary year of Mark. As we begin hearing the stories of Jesus’s...
01/02/2024

Mark is my favourite Gospel. This year we are in the Lectionary year of Mark. As we begin hearing the stories of Jesus’s teaching and ministry, particularly stories around Jesus calling his first disciples and Jesus beginning to minister in the region of Galilee, I cannot help but think about how our world has rapidly become similar to that of the folks of the first century. ...

Mark is my favourite Gospel. This year we are in the Lectionary year of Mark.As we begin hearing the stories of Jesus’s teaching and ministry, particularly stories around Jesus calling his first di…

This year we are in Lectionary year B, which is the year of Mark. For those who might be wondering, the lectionary is th...
25/01/2024

This year we are in Lectionary year B, which is the year of Mark. For those who might be wondering, the lectionary is the 3-year cycle of appointed readings for every Sunday (every day in fact) of the church year. The lectionary that we use is called the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), which is used by many churches and denominations around the world....

This year we are in Lectionary year B, which is the year of Mark. For those who might be wondering, the lectionary is the 3-year cycle of appointed readings for every Sunday (every day in fact) of …

We are through Advent and awaiting the big night to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. We have waited and watched, we h...
24/12/2023

We are through Advent and awaiting the big night to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. We have waited and watched, we have prepared. But we have also heard again the promises of God given in Advent stories. Advent stories that give context to the Messiah who is about to come, stories that help us to understand just what it means for Messiah to come into our world....

We are through Advent and awaiting the big night to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. We have waited and watched, we have prepared. But we have also heard again the promises of God given in Adven…

Years ago, as the “decline” of Christianity in North America was just starting to be noticed by church leadership, I rea...
18/12/2023

Years ago, as the “decline” of Christianity in North America was just starting to be noticed by church leadership, I read an article by a clergyperson trying to describe and diagnose the church’s condition. She wrote that as a church we have begun to tire and slow down, that as a body we are transforming into something we don’t recognize and it feels like we are no longer in control of what is happening to us, we are headed towards something that we know will change us forever. Some would diagnose this as the symptoms of dying....

Years ago, as the “decline” of Christianity in North America was just starting to be noticed by church leadership, I read an article by a clergyperson trying to describe and diagnose the church’s c…

Every so often, I find myself in a situation where someone is trying to figure out who I am and what I do. Maybe at a fu...
12/12/2023

Every so often, I find myself in a situation where someone is trying to figure out who I am and what I do. Maybe at a funeral, or a community event, sometimes when meeting other clergy from other denominations. One particular conversation stands out for me when I was serving at Messiah in Camrose, Alberta as the Senior Pastor of a large congregation....

Every so often, I find myself in a situation where someone is trying to figure out who I am and what I do. Maybe at a funeral, or a community event, sometimes when meeting other clergy from other d…

Wilderness. John the Baptizer comes to us in this second week of Advent, or rather the Advent story takes us out in the ...
05/12/2023

Wilderness. John the Baptizer comes to us in this second week of Advent, or rather the Advent story takes us out in the wilderness to see and hear John preach. It feels like we are leaving the familiar places of home to go out into the unknown in order to hear a message from John. It is pretty clear to see that our safe and familiar places have become less safe and comfortable over the course of the past few years....

Wilderness.  John the Baptizer comes to us in this second week of Advent, or rather the Advent story takes us out in the wilderness to see and hear John preach. It feels like we are leaving th…

A couple of weeks ago, our family made the choice (mistake?) of going to the mall on a Saturday. It was the afternoon of...
27/11/2023

A couple of weeks ago, our family made the choice (mistake?) of going to the mall on a Saturday. It was the afternoon of Remembrance Day and I have never seen the mall so busy. There were people in all the stores and busy streams of folks moving along the corridors. Then in something I had never seen before, there were all kinds of people just loitering, standing against the balcony railings, sitting on every bench and chair....

A couple of weeks ago, our family made the choice (mistake?) of going to the mall on a Saturday. It was the afternoon of Remembrance Day and I have never seen the mall so busy. There were peop…

In 15 years of serving as a pastor, I have remained a mostly “by the book” person. That is to say, when it comes to wors...
20/11/2023

In 15 years of serving as a pastor, I have remained a mostly “by the book” person. That is to say, when it comes to worship and liturgy, I tend to stick to the orders, texts and traditions of the church. It is not that I am unwilling to try new or different ideas, nor is it the case that I feel compelled to follow the rubrics (stage notes in our hymnals) as if they were written in stone....

In 15 years of serving as a pastor, I have remained a mostly “by the book” person. That is to say, when it comes to worship and liturgy, I tend to stick to the orders, texts and traditions of the c…

All Saints Sunday is one of my favourite times of the year, and not because it is the same Sunday as the time change whe...
06/11/2023

All Saints Sunday is one of my favourite times of the year, and not because it is the same Sunday as the time change when we ‘fall back’ to daylight savings time. Our family has had an All Saints Sunday tradition of watching the movie “Coco” in the afternoon. Coco is a Disney/Pixar animated film that tells the story of a young boy, Miguel, in Mexico who is transported to the Land of the Dead on…...

All Saints Sunday is one of my favourite times of the year, and not because it is the same Sunday as the time change when we ‘fall back’ to daylight savings time.  Our family has had an All Sa…

This week I handed in the first paper for my Doctor of Ministry program. It has been 15 years since I last had to produc...
31/10/2023

This week I handed in the first paper for my Doctor of Ministry program. It has been 15 years since I last had to produce papers or complete assignments for school. While it is certainly different and new at the doctoral level, a lot of those memories and feelings from another time in my life have been on my mind. …...

This week I handed in the first paper for my Doctor of Ministry program. It has been 15 years since I last had to produce papers or complete assignments for school. While it is certainly different …

Last weekend, one of my colleagues invited me to come to a confirmation class to teach something about Martin Luther. Ba...
31/10/2023

Last weekend, one of my colleagues invited me to come to a confirmation class to teach something about Martin Luther. Back in seminary, my classmates would often take to teasing me for quoting the Book of Concord or Augsburg Confession. They would roll their eyes when I answered professors’ questions with things like, “According to Luther…” Lots of my colleagues still tease me for those kinds of things, and I am sure it doesn’t help to have started a Doctor of Ministry program with the intention of researching Luther and Lutheran Confessions stuff....

Last weekend, one of my colleagues invited me to come to a confirmation class to teach something about Martin Luther.  Back in seminary, my classmates would often take to teasing me for quotin…

I am sure many of us have been paying attention to the news this week with heavy hearts and uncertainty about what to th...
13/10/2023

I am sure many of us have been paying attention to the news this week with heavy hearts and uncertainty about what to think. As news of the attacks by Hamas on Israeli citizens⎯rockets, soldiers, kidnappings and murders⎯it felt like yet another setback in an already shaky and unstable world. Reports of the violence and tragedies have been dominating the news headlines....

I am sure many of us have been paying attention to the news this week with heavy hearts and uncertainty about what to think.  As news of the attacks by Hamas on Israeli citizens⎯rockets, soldi…

Change is in the air. It is that time in the fall when the lingering warm summer days are interrupted by cool winds blow...
10/10/2023

Change is in the air. It is that time in the fall when the lingering warm summer days are interrupted by cool winds blowing from new directions. Some might say, “Winter is Coming” but there is still the fullness of fall to experience. The leaves are mostly fully changed and falling now. But the turnover of seasons is in the air in other ways. ...

Change is in the air. It is that time in the fall when the lingering warm summer days are interrupted by cool winds blowing from new directions. Some might say, “Winter is Coming” but there is stil…

As someone who grew up with cats, I confess that I did not piece together that when a dog needs to go outside, so does t...
09/10/2023

As someone who grew up with cats, I confess that I did not piece together that when a dog needs to go outside, so does the dog owner (at least while she is a puppy). Now as a puppy owner, I find myself standing out in the backyard waiting for the dog to do her business far more than I thought would ever be necessary....

As someone who grew up with cats, I confess that I did not piece together that when a dog needs to go outside, so does the dog owner (at least while she is a puppy). Now as a puppy owner, I find my…

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