Tuesday, December 25
A man stands on a bridge in the snow on a dark, cold night contemplating suicide. He believes life has... Read More

Monday, December 24
Christmas Eve. Candles were everywhere, and First Baptist was draped throughout with holly and greenery. The Chrismon trees were illuminated... Read More

Sunday, December 23
The choir stopped singing and dispersed, chatting among themselves. Jimmy just sat in the pew, glad to be warm for... Read More

Saturday, December 22
In the TV-addicted culture in which we live, there are occasionally phrases in commercials which assume a life of their... Read More

Friday, December 21
You never know what someone else may find to be a spiritual encouragement. It does not always involve the entire... Read More

Thursday, December 20
When I was asked to write for this year’s Advent booklet and told that a possible subject could be based... Read More

Wednesday, December 19
I have always been deeply moved by the words and music of Handel’s Messiah during the Advent season. As the... Read More

Tuesday, December 18
“Congregation Arise” implies a characteristic of a certain group of believers, reflecting their pilgrimage as unified Christians at a certain... Read More

Monday, December 17
It was one of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions. My brother and I would get the rusty old wheelbarrow from... Read More

Sunday, December 16
It was the same dream every night. Had been going on for weeks now, and it seemed more vivid each... Read More

Saturday, December 15
On a hot and balmy Saturday in August 1968, First Baptist of Savannah indeed “rose to the occasion.” A dozen... Read More

Friday, December 14
Finding a church that would give me, as a woman, the opportunity to be its pastor was a long process... Read More

Thursday, December 13
Every Advent during our time in Savannah, I cherished two moments on Christmas Eve. The first was that lump-in-the-throat instant... Read More

Wednesday, December 12
Each year, as the organ introduction to ‘Congregation Arise” began, my cousins and I would glance at each other and... Read More

Tuesday, December 11
One year while our family was living in the Washington. D.C., suburbs, my Sunday School class initiated an Advent project... Read More

Monday, December 10
It was the second Sunday in Advent and I was irritated to say the least. That afternoon, my parents had... Read More

Sunday, December 9
Jimmy shuffled his feet along the sidewalk in the dark. It was cold, and the bitter moisture seeped into his... Read More

Saturday, December 8
Prompted to remember moments when I have “risen to the occasion,” I think back to our four years in Gainesville,... Read More

Friday, December 7
As I write this, I have just left a patient’s hospital room on the Rehab Unit. He had been behaving... Read More

Thursday, December 6
As I re-read those familiar lines from “Congregation, Arise!” my eye fixed on the line, “Let there be peace on... Read More

Wednesday, December 5
An angel appeared to some shepherds as they were guarding their sheep on Bethlehem hills one night and told them... Read More

Tuesday, December 4
I have been singing in the choir for as long as we have been concluding our Christmas Eve service with... Read More

Monday, December 3
Our theme song, “Congregation Arise,” has really caused me to consider what that concept means. Two phrases loudly resound in... Read More

Sunday, December 2
She climbed the steps in the rain, floppy knit hat clamped over her head and pulled down tight so that... Read More