Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org (I’m writing this blog from Jerusalem as I am coming down the home stretch of my clergy study trip to the Holy Land. The trip is sponsored by the group, Interfaith Partners For Peace. The focus of the trip is to explore relationships between major religious…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org This weekend our nation experienced an ugly outburst of racism. Saturday morning I checked my Facebook page and saw a post from Erin Counihan about White Nationalist, KKK, and Nazi groups marching through a college campus in Virginia with torches, shields, and guns. I thought, “What…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org Sunday at Webster Groves was another celebration of a pastoral installation. Rev. Hannah Dreitcer is the fourth installation in my seven months as your Transitional Presbytery Leader. I anticipate at least three more installations of new pastors by the end of the year. In the past…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org Imagine a church building decorated wall to wall with arts and crafts devoted to super heroes! The walls are plastered with posters, objects are hanging from the ceiling and stacked on the floors. As soon as worship is over, more objects are moved into the…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org (Photo by PCUSA Staff photographer) Big Tent was amazing!! Big Tent St. Louis was one of the best Big Tent events ever! From the music, to the food; from the Washington University setting, to the inspiring preaching and workshops, the event was accomplished with precision and excellence.…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org On Sunday I retraced the Dan Anderson-Little route and preached at Hillside church at 8:30 a.m., followed by Potosi at 11:30 a.m. Before leaving for Texas, Dan preached at both congregations almost every Sunday! When I arrived at Potosi, I was informed of the…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org A good friend, my best friend, found himself and his family in a bit of trouble. He asked if I would pray for him. I was so touched by the circumstance I prayed and prayed hard. I’m not talking about him being “in my thoughts and…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org On Sunday, I had the opportunity to preach at First Kampsville. I’m sure we’ve never held presbytery gathering on this Illinois peninsula. Kampsville is a town of 302. The drive to our furthest north congregation meant taking a ferry across the Mississippi river…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org On Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at our church in Steelville, Missouri. The city is known as the floating capital of Missouri. Considering the number of boats being pulled by trailers, and canoes on roof racks I saw while driving down I-44,…
Blog Post by the Rev. Dr. Craig Howard Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Transitional Leader choward@glpby.org This past week I flew out to California and drove back to St. Louis with Marilyn. We took our time traversing the 1800 miles. We even stopped in Santa Fe to renew our wedding vows! It was an amazing day, and the drive from…