As I go though this transition in my life, I have been expecting my self to begin organizing how to do it "effectively" … to come up with a plan that will insure that it "goes well."  But as I sit with some of you and think about how much life we have shared, and how that is going to change, I find this assumption that I can do it "effectively" is dissolving.  I don't know how to do this.  I don't know how to set aside personal time with 300 people to thoroughly recount and reflect on what we've experienced together, how many

Tidings – summer

From the Pastor

    As I assume most of you know by now, I will be completing my 16 years of ministry at GPC August 31.  The next day I will be begin serving as Executive Director of Hospice of Santa Barbara.  In the week since I announced this change, people have asked me some questions.  Here are some of the most common ones, along with my answers:
1. What will happen to GPC?  GPC will go through a transitional time that might last a year.  The session will appoint a committee to select an interim pastor

Several weeks ago there was a controversy over videos showing the inhumane treatment of ill cattle at a butchering facility in Chino.  The videos led to a massive recall of beef.  As I've been doing interfaith meals over the last two years, I've become more aware of the use of kosher meat in the Jewish tradition and hallal meat in the Islamic tradition -- two practices that have much in common. Underlying these traditions is that the animals possess life given by God and if they are to be slaughtered, it should be done in the most humane way possible.  It occurred to me

As I mentioned in my DC letter, I recently finished "Head and Heart" by Gary Willis. Willis has written often on American history and won a Pulitzer for his book on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  In this book he traces the history of the influence of religion on America as a back and forth movement between evangelical fervor and "enlightenment" thought, i.e., a view that seeks to be highly rational, emphasizing tolearance of various opinions.  So, for example, the revolutionary period followed a time of a religious revivalism known as the "Great Awakening

Trip to Washington, D.C. – October 17, 2007

In September, I received an invitation from Lois Capps, to attend a “Central Coast Faith Leaders Day on the Hill.”  I was one of twenty faith leaders (Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish, including four African-Americans) from Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties invited to be part of a day-long series of conversations between us and representatives of Congress exploring the role of faith and politics in approaching issues such as the environment, social justice, and peace and pluralism at home and abroad.

GPC continues to do many things to serve Christ, from nurturing children and youth to creating intergenerational worship services to building houses in Mexico and bakeries in Ghana. This work grows out of our faith and the sharing of our personal spiritual gifts. It is made possible by the funds we all contribute to the church week-by-week and month-by-month.

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