For decades, I have heard—and seen embodied in memes on the internet—a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” The fact is, however, that Mark Twain—aka Samuel Clemens—never said or wrote those words. Though they may hold some measure of truth about his actually statement, the versions that most …
When I first came to Open Door Churches in 2017 I was assigned to spend my Sunday mornings at Keizer Clear Lake UMC. One of the practices they had in worship was to gather everyone in a circle around the worship space and to hold hands as they sang the last verse of the closing …
June 20, Father’s Day, was the anniversary of my first Sunday in Salem. I volunteered to attend the worship with the Morningside church. The turn-out was more than I expected; about thirty members of the board and their families attended. I got to witness the love and welcoming nature of the people of Morningside church. …
