Romans 16:1: One of these things may or may not be like the others

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So, what do we know about Phoebe? First, we know that she was really great.  Second, we know that she was a deacon.

What does this mean?

In English, diakonos is usually translated with words like servant, helper, minister, and, yes, deacon. Which of these words should be used to refer to Phoebe? We know that she was trustworthy, that she did something for the church in Cenchreae, and that she was really helpful. What word best expresses that?

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Genesis 37:3 - How much did Jacob love his daughters?

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Jacob, aka Israel, is famous for having sons. Like, really famous. So famous that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a song about it, although he also wrote a whole musical about cats, so Jacob probably shouldn’t let it go to his head.

The most famous of Jacob’s famous sons is Joseph, and this is how he is introduced: “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children…” Genesis 37:3a, NRSVUE.

Just how dysfunctional was this family, anyway?

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Understanding Robert's Rules, Part 3: Fun and Games at Churchwide Assemblies

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If you have made it this far (or if you have come to this post and have no intention of reading all the rest of that), though, you might enjoy the following game.

This is, in effect, a list of things to watch out for while watching the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, but we’re calling it Bingo, because that’s traditional. And it’s annotated, because hi, have we met?

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Understanding Robert's Rules, Part 1: Whose bright idea was this, anyway?

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Have you ever, say, to take a random example, watched a livestream of the plenary sessions of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, and thought: Why are they doing things like this? Who made this stuff up?!? These rules make no sense! How can anyone remember all this?

These are all very reasonable thoughts to have.

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Free Verse Art Coloring Page: 1 John 4:20b

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colored verse art: If you don't love your sibling, whom you have seen, how can you love God, whom you have not seen? 1 John 4:20b

Colored with colored pencils, in shades of red, because of course.

Back when I did introduced The Chart with the series about 1 John 4:20, Erin surprised me with verse art.

Now we are sharing it with everyone, because we can. You, too, can color in your very own version of Erin’s very own verse art using my very own translation of this verse!

Download Verse Art (PDF)

This coloring page is free for personal and (non-profit) congregational use, as long as you give us credit.

On being the female-coded roster

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It only took a slight dive into church history, some added awareness of how traditions that aren’t as (theoretically) egalitarian as ours talk about women, and a little lived experience, and I discovered I’d accidentally signed up for the female-coded roster of the church.

Why do I describe deacons as the “female-coded roster of the church?”  Let me count the ways.

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My Little Ponies at Church

“They aren’t worth anything, are they?” my sister asked. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think so. I thought I’d better check.

Sherbet and Shaggy were the first two ponies I prepared, because Sherbet is purple and Shaggy is cute.

“Good news,” I reported back. “None of the ones we had are all that valuable.”

We were talking about our childhood My Little Pony collection. The time had come to pass them on to my young niece, and so I was cleaning off the grime of years, detangling their hair, and looking up their names on the Internet.

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The 1 John 4:20 Test, Part 2: How did we get here?

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“What do we learn about God from this verse?” we asked the class. It was our standard question.

There was a long pause, which was normal. Maybe the question would go away if no one answered? Alas, it did not. It never did. And so finally, hesitantly, one student held up her hand.

“I think maybe Satan is God’s brother,” Kenzie answered.

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Verse art, or something (an introduction)

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The thing that I call “verse art” started in the family of ideas from a book called Praying in Color (which is really cool, you should check it out). What I love most about Praying in Color is that it breaks open the idea of prayer as formal, written, or “just right.” Drawing, doodling, and coloring aren’t prayer because you add words, they are prayer all by themselves. I love words.  I never (previously) knew I needed to be free of them to pray. 

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