Article on “The Banner” – “Redeeming Ritual”

Protestants tend to brace themselves at the mention of the R-word: ritual. The word is a trigger evoking a Reformation history that has sunk into our bones. We associate ritual with dead orthodoxy, “vain repetition,” the denial of grace, trying to earn salvation, scoring points with God, “going through the motions,” and various other forms [...]

At the Crossroads…

This past Sunday, November 7, I attended worship at Crossroads Community Church in Goshen, Indiana. This church has made quite a splash in the Church of the Nazarene as one of the fastest growing churches in our area by utilizing the attractional church model. The music was performance driven with a keyboardist leading the songs [...]

Visiting Willow…

Sunday I visited the downtown Chicago campus of Willow Creek Community Church. Willow Creek made famous the style of ministry known as “seeker-sensitive”, or what seems to be referred to elsewhere as “attractional”.  The downtown campus embodies this style well, while intentionally emphasizing the “missional” aspect of ministry. Combining these two powerful styles of ministry, [...]

ONU Chapel

Yesterday I attended the dedication chapel service for the new chapel on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University (ONU). Wow, what a beautiful building. With seating for the entire student body, every chapel worship will now include every student, rather than on a rotating basis they have been using. I was intrigued by the ginormous [...]

onederings begun

So it has officially begun: a blog of my thoughts regarding one faith and one church and one life on planet earth and beyond – my onederings. Currently on sabbatical, I am collecting thoughts from my reading and reflections, and collecting experiences from visits to various churches in the surrounding areas. These collections will be [...]

Visiting Mars …

This past Sunday (Oct 24), I visited the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan. Just outside Grand Rapids, Mars Hill has been meeting in a vacant mall complex.  They do not have a sign anywhere; the only information is on the entrance doors.  We drove around the building the night before, and I am [...]