(Recently one of our amazing student pastors here at Duke, Rev. Philip Chryst, shared with me about a unique and imaginative approach that his rural church had used to connect with seekers in the community: “WikiWorship.” I invited Philip to describe the program for us below. In this week when many people are asking questions such as “What is Good Friday, anyway?,” “Why exactly did Jesus die?,” and “Resurrection isn't really real - is it?,” we would all do well to attend to the example of Warren’s Grove UMC, and to pay attention to the spiritual questions of God’s children.)

Hanging out in the pastor's office after preaching at our partner Thriving Rural Congregation at Hayesville First UMC, I noticed a football sitting on the shelf among all of the other church paraphernalia. "What's the story of the football?," I asked.

(One of our TRC Partner Churches, Tyro UMC in Lexington, will be holding a special event called “Journey to Bethlehem” over the next two nights. The description found below recently appeared in “The Dispatch” of Lexington.)

Let's take a trip. No need to pack a bag and pay those inflated charges at the airport to check your luggage. No need to find a sitter for your pet. No need to stop your mail or paper delivery for a few days.

The missions committee at the small rural church where I worship recently came up with the idea of serving Christ one Ziploc bag at a time.

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” — Matthew 5: 48

“Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal . . .”—Philippians 3: 13-14

I am a perfectionist.

Blame my parents, blame my genetics, blame my raising, blame society’s expectations, or blame my own inner demons, but for whatever reason, I have this inner compulsion to do things just right. It seems to be my gift and my curse to always think of ways that things could be better.

Recently I had an opportunity to offer the morning devotion at the Aldersgate Gathering of representatives from Duke Divinity School, The Duke Endowment, and the North Carolina and Western North Carolina Conferences of the United Methodist Church. The day focused on how the four stakeholders, or partners, could work together to improve the health of clergy. I found inspiration for this topic in the story from Mark 2: 1-12, where four people carry a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. Here’s what was shared: