The Bible teaches that true worship is more than attending church services or performingreligious rituals – it is reaching out to our neighbors and touching their lives in some tangible way. I have never attended a church that does that as powerfully and consistently as Central. The acceptance and love shown here is palpable. The first time I visited and saw the beautiful diversity of the congrega...  Read More

Their light—their humanity and compassion—is not gone, but buried so deeply that it cannot shine.  Read More

When the Cardinals selected a new Pope last month, I could not have been more excited. I have been a Catholic Worker, full-time or part time, for the last seventeen years, and I needed, more than I realized, for the new Pope to keep the momentum towards more inclusion of the LBGT+ community in the Catholic Church. When I saw the white smoke and heard the name of the new Pope, Prevost, the American...  Read More

That's why inclusion matters. Because real community - the kind Jesus modeled - only works when everyone is allowed to show up fully. When no one must hide. When love doesn't come with conditions.  Read More

As one of Central’s lay delegates, I had the opportunity to attend the Texas Annual Conference for the first time last week. I did not grow up in the Methodist Church and have only been an official member since partnering with Central a few years ago. I walked into the Opening Worship service on Sunday night with no preconceived notions of what to expect. The theme of this year’s conference was “R...  Read More

I have been pondering over Pastor Julia’s sermon this past Sunday. It resonated with me, the importance of rest in the making of a whole and fruitful person. Rest as both condition and necessity for growth.  On a personal level, I have the luxury of rest. But the resonance I’m feeling is not about me, but for the 18 people moving out of homelessness at David’s House. The participants are going fro...  Read More

Having majored in marketing in college, I am fond of a good brand as it can highlight thefundamental values and essence of an organization. It is one of the reasons I was drawn to the tagline for Galveston Central Church, “Church Different,” reminiscent of Apple’s infamous “Think Different” marketing campaign. When thinking of a church as a place of community gathering, I view church as a verb to ...  Read More

Last week, two days before Epiphany, I had a (small-e) epiphany of my own. It was sparked in large part by Central’s ministerial staff. They get wide recognition for their transformative outreach with our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness and hard times;  I wanted to assure them they were indeed transforming the comfortably-housed, well-fed, materially-satisfied folks sitting in the p...  Read More

For more than a year, I have been taking photos of Pastor Michael’s shoes when he takes them off to preach. I don’t know why I started. I guess it felt like something that needed to be documented! Now, however, it is much more. The shoes, usually left alone on the front row, have taken on a story of their own, a dual symbol of both the comfort of feeling at home and of being exposed and vulnerable...  Read More

As the summer slowly ended in Galveston, I thought often about the few weeks we spent at Central, in the heat of the summer, with no air conditioning in the sanctuary. Even in the oppressive heat (I brought a thermometer that read 90 degrees), we carried on; business as usual! Really, can you imagine any other church doing the same? But we are different. In so many ways, our unsheltered members an...  Read More

*Trigger warning: This blog entry mentions suicide.In our current sermon series “The Sacred Between Us,” we have discussed our neighbors. As we learn about our neighbors and how to care for one another, I can’t think of a more relevant instance to check on your neighbor. September is Suicide Prevention Month. After reading about a couple of recent incidents I felt compelled to share. According to ...  Read More

It takes a village to raise a child. A phrase you've heard or even said numerous times.What about an adult?  What does it take to elevate an adult? We don’t just raisechildren; we raise our children to be adults. Last Tuesday, I had someone tell me theyhad no idea how to be an adult. They had no life skills, that they were never taughtbasic skills to be an adult. This absence had caused them to mi...  Read More