The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines doomscrolling as “to spend excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.”i So, why in the world do we do it? It starts out simply enough. “Doomscrolling starts with the goal of becoming more aware of a situation so you can understand what’s happening and prepare yourself for it.”ii The scrolling, whether doom or binge scrolling,…
Adapted from “When the Holy Dances with the Ordinary,” by Chris Keating (copyright 2025, CSS Publications) One year, an unseasonably warm week before Thanksgiving prompted more than a few in our neighborhood to get an early start putting up their Christmas lights. But does the week before Thanksgiving even count as early anymore? I’m not sure. While a fair number…
Throughout Advent, I’m grateful for the chance to offer a series of reflections about Advent and the grief we experience in our lives, in our churches, and in our world. Part two: The forgotten sadness of congregational grief Advent has begun. Thanksgiving’s leftovers are mostly finished, and the pace of life is picking up. At church, hallways are festooned with…
For the next three weeks, I’ll be offering a series of reflections about Advent and the grief we experience in our lives, in our churches, and in our world. Part One: Singing Silent Night in a minor key Grief’s appearance during Advent and Christmas rattles us like the ghosts who inhabit Ebenezer Scrooge’s Christmas Eve dreams. While our culture is…
We received a wonderful letter from Mary Sue Schusky, a member of First United Presbyterian Church, enclosed with a story she wrote for Illinois Heritage. We felt we should share the beautiful reflection of history with Rev. Salmon Giddings and the long-time community connection of First United Presbyterian Church, Collinsville, Illinois. Good things continue to happen at Collinsville’s Historic Presbyterian…
“The Life and Times of a Stated Clerk, part 1” Have you ever wondered what a Stated Clerk does all year long outside of the quarterly Presbytery Gatherings and their agendas? If so, you’ve come to the right place, because this month I focus on a topic a little closer to home for me. For the next two Spotlight on…
A Weekly Witness: Thoughts on Ministry, Justice, and Life Together from your Presbytery Leader “We incubate what we celebrate” I will never forget these words spoken at the 221st General Assembly in Detroit, where I sat as a commissioner in 2014. These words remind me just how important celebration is in our lives of faith. Take a look at…
A Weekly Witness: Thoughts on Ministry, Justice, and Life Together from your Presbytery Leader Like you, I am saddened and crushed by the start of the school year beginning with a mass shooting. The late Presbyterian activist and pastor James E. Atwood first introduced me to the image of rising gun violence being like a flood that rises…
“Presbyterian Historical Society: What’s That?” As the fall approaches and I prepare for another round of annual minute reviews with our Clerks of Session, I was inspired to focus this month’s “Spotlight on Polity” on something that doesn’t get enough attention in the life of our churches, but just as important as anything else when it comes to our Polity.…
A Weekly Witness: Thoughts on Ministry, Justice, and Life Together from your Presbytery Leader I am going to take an opportunity to let you in on a little secret that very few church people will say out loud: I love meetings. Yup. I said it. (Please don’t groan! Wait, don’t go anywhere, stay with me! Don’t close your friendly reading…