The Proactive Presbyterian

Columbia Theological Seminary Commencement! (at Peachtree...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:07:43 -0400

Columbia Theological Seminary Commencement! (at Peachtree Presbyterian Church)

Columbia Baccalaureate Service (at Columbia Presbyterian Church)

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:41:29 -0400

Columbia Baccalaureate Service (at Columbia Presbyterian Church)

Good morning Denver. (at Denver International Airport Concourse...

Sun, 12 May 2013 07:28:19 -0400

Good morning Denver. (at Denver International Airport Concourse D42)

#BlueSkies #Denver #Saturday (at Denver Botanic Gardens)

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:11:18 -0400

#BlueSkies #Denver #Saturday (at Denver Botanic Gardens)

After feeling pretty burnt out this semester I’ve been...

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:47:39 -0400

After feeling pretty burnt out this semester I’ve been looking forward to having a weekend away from the bubble that is seminary. Well, I missed my flight and after a few hours of aimless wandering I just stumbled on a hidden airport chapel. Maybe God’s been missing me too.

My trusty Dash luggage. #DontPostponeJoy #KDBAirportDay (at...

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:17:57 -0400

My trusty Dash luggage. #DontPostponeJoy #KDBAirportDay (at Concourse B)

Seniors sharing Bible passages at the last chapel service of the...

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:20:11 -0400

Seniors sharing Bible passages at the last chapel service of the year. #BitterSweet (at Columbia Theological Seminary)

Hope to get me through this week of finals.

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:14:53 -0400

Hope to get me through this week of finals.

Vegan tofu scramble burrito! #vegan

Fri, 03 May 2013 20:17:17 -0400

Vegan tofu scramble burrito! #vegan

We have chapel Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. This is looking up at...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 05:37:37 -0400

We have chapel Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. This is looking up at Campbell Hall chapel- the home of what might be my favorite stained glass ever.

So I get it that time has passed since I’ve lost a mentor,...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:20:00 -0500

So I get it that time has passed since I’ve lost a mentor, a pastor, a friend, and a colleague. Look Friends - I am an advocate of the gospel stories. I see the tension present in the gospels. I get it. And I hear you - it’s hard not to call bullshit on the title Christian today. How can we realistically call ourselves Easter people in the face of so much Lent?

But here we are, in the midst of Lent, and is it just me or did Lent start a little early this year? I feel like I keep waking up for some good news of resurrection, but none comes.

I’m not playing dumb. I acknowledge I’m in mourning over Aimee and a number of other things in my life; over the loss of leadership, over promises that will not be fulfilled, and conversations that will never take place.

I have a feeling Aimee would feel uncomfortable having this season of loss tied to her, but let’s be real: These last few weeks have been less than ideal. But here we are, and I cannot help but ask - how would Aimee have found the beauty and hope in this season of pain and loss?

I pray and I cry, I mourn the loss of what could have been in the midst of my celebration of what has been done. I give thanks for laughter that has filled the hearts of many, and hold the places of silence that have been created in loss. I wish for new beginnings in a time when I, joined with others, are not ready to say goodbye. I remain heartbroken in a time when so many are wishing for a new beginning.

I’ve got a shit ton of grief inside me, and I’m mourning loss on a number of levels.

You want to know where God is in all of this? I can’t tell you, but if you’ve read this far I have a feeling you have been in a similar place.

So here’s a prayer. Take it or leave it. Say it with candles or incense. Pray it silently or aloud. This is mine but make it yours.

Gather your paints and gather your pains. Collect your melodies and your laments.

I have lost a companion and a sister. I have lost a friend and an comrade. I have lost a cheerleader and a confidant. I have lost someone who will be forever irreplaceable.

It has been 4 weeks, 4 days.

If you ever met Aimee you know what I’m talking about. How can you not hear her voice trumpeting over the daily injustices of our lives? How can you not feel her embrace when you talk to people who have never in their life felt they had a place in worship?

I feel so very lost in a world where she felt so at home.

KDB

This is one moment in my life when I knew, without a doubt that...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:36:39 -0500

This is one moment in my life when I knew, without a doubt that I was exactly where I needed to be. Where are you in your life?

What it means to be a Spirit-filled person.

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:18:23 -0500

“Look at Jesus, they tell us, if you want to know what it means to have the Holy Spirit dwell within you. He is our prime example of what it means to be a Spirit-filled person. What kind of life is that? It is not the kind of life people in his time (as in our time?) expected of a ‘spiritual’ person. Rather, it was the life of a person who went to parties, ate and drank, had a good time. He talked more about what people did with their money than about their sexual purity and was interested in the healthy of their bodies as in their souls. Jesus was the friend and companion not just of the morally pure and pious but of the immoral, unbelieving sinners. He defended the cause of those who were rejected and despised by polite society and the religious and political establishment. He believed that human need takes precedence over strict conformity to the law. He came to serve other people, not to assert his moral and religious superiority over them. He loved his enemies and did good to those who hated him. He trusted and served the God he called Father even when it did not pay off in personal success and happiness, even when it meant giving up his own life for unworthy, no-good sinners. His life was the life of one who prayed even when everything he had worked and hoped for was denied him and he felt forsaken by God. That is the kind of life that is the result of God’s Holy Spirit coming to dwell in a person.” Shirley Guthrie, Christian Doctrine pg 294-295

Photo

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:44:27 -0400

Here’s an update on life!

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:34:03 -0400

Here’s an update on life!

WHEN I FIND OUT HOW SHORT THE ORDINATION PROCESS IS IN SOME TRADITIONS

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:16:08 -0400

everydayimpastoring:

Housing Policy Report

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:01:23 -0400

Housing Policy Commission

Report

In May, a CTS Housing Policy Commission was created by the chair of the Board and the president to review the current standards and policies as they relate to housing within this very diverse community. The mandate for the Commission was to establish a fair and administrable housing policy which will serve all of our students and be in accord with the ethical standards of our community. The president indicated that the work of the Commission should be completed if at all possible by the beginning of the 2012 Fall semester.

The Commission consisted of 13 members:

· 3 members of the Board of Trustees, appointed by the chair of the Board;

· 3 members of the faculty, chosen by the Executive Committee of the Faculty;

· 3 students, chosen by the SCC officers; and

· the Dean of the Faculty and the Dean of Student Services.

The president and the chair of the Board of Trustees co-moderated the Commission.

The Commission reviewed all of the current policies related to housing at Columbia. After prayerful consideration and extensive conversation, the Commission established the following new housing policy:

Students, their qualified domestic partners (e.g. those in civil marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships as established by the laws of any state, the United States or a foreign jurisdiction), and their children are eligible to live in campus housing. Appeals may be made to the CTS Housing Committee.

Questions regarding the policy may be addressed to the Dean of Students or the president of the seminary.

Sincerely,

The Columbia Housing Policy Commission:

Bill Scheu (co-chair) Steve Hayner (co-chair)

Lane Alderman Steve Montgomery Lucy Strong

John Azumah Deb Mullen John White

Mark Douglas Charles Nash Marcus Yates

Beth Johnson Sheldon Steen

August 13, 2012

herewecollide: “Things have a way of working out.”

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:26:17 -0400

herewecollide:

“Things have a way of working out.”

Beholding vs. Believing “Once I had begun crying on a...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:48:00 -0400

Beholding vs. Believing

“Once I had begun crying on a regular basis, I realized just how little interest I had in defending Christian beliefs. The parts of the Christian story that had drawn my into the Church were not the believing parts but the beholding parts.

‘Behold, I bring you good news of great joy…’

‘Behold the Lamb of God…’

‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock…’

Whether the narratives starred hayseed shepherds confronted by hosts of glittering angels or desert pilgrims watching something like a dove descend upon a man in a river as a voice from heaven called things that were clearly beyond belief… While I understood both why and how the early church decided to wrap those mysteries in protective layers of orthodox belief, the beliefs never seized my heart the way mysteries did.” - Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

Photo credit: Adam Pinnell

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive, and to be...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:52:41 -0400

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive, and to be alive consists in beholding God.”

- St. Irenaeus