Category: Pastors’ Letters

I’m sure most of you have heard about the Rosetta Stone. It’s a large piece of black basalt that was found by Napoleon’s soldiers in North Africa back in 1799. …

Back in 2012, I was blessed to receive a Lilly Foundation grant that helped underwrite a sabbatical for myself and my family. Charlotte and Ian were in middle school, and …

Somewhere on my desk, amidst the “ever shifting piles of paper” (as my wife lovingly refers to it), can invariably be found a “To Do” list. It is usually on …

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your faith right now? Are you moving through your days seeing life as if through a “faith filter”—imagining God …

Author Yuval Harari tells the legend about how the Apollo 11 astronauts trained for their space mission by spending time in the moon-like deserts out west. On one of their …

How “open” a person are you? By that I mean, what topics are you comfortable talking about with others? The answer to that question depends on the person to whom …

I’ve always had a problem with “either/or” equations, especially when the two choices are placed in strict opposition to one another. You are either a “dog person” or a “cat …

During the week of April 12–19, 1919, the congregation of East Liberty Presbyterian Church celebrated their centennial. With the help of people like Georgina Negley, granddaughter of ELPC founding members …

J. Barrie Shepherd is a talented, retired Presbyterian minister and poet, who recently published a poem called “Remembering.” It starts out with these lines: Where I left the car keys, …

Is Christian faith all-sufficient? The surprising answer is “no.” Faith in God, revealed in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, is certainly important—even fundamental for our lives. …