MARY LEE TALBOT - STAFF WRITER WOMACK “Have you ever lost something?” the Rev. J. Paul Womack asked the congregation during the 9 a.m. Wednesday morning worship service in the Amphitheater. “I have lost my
MARY LEE TALBOT - STAFF WRITER In the summer of 1979, the Rev. Fred Craddock served as chaplain of the week at Chautauqua and told a story that stuck with the Rev. George Wirth ever
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Chautauqua's Vice President of Religion and Senior Pastor, delivers his sermon during the opening worship service of the 2021 season Sunday, June 27, 2021 in the Amp. DAVE MUNCH/PHOTO
If the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson had to write a school essay on what he learned this summer, it might begin this way: Robinson “‘I learned that a 147-year-old institution, that worships its past,
One of fall’s pleasures is to go to a corn maze and walk through. It can be confusing as you wander through with the corn high over your head. “The place I go in Lancaster,
Pastor Ben Cachiaras said that when author Bob Goff visited Mountain Christian Church and he finished his speech — which he gave standing on a chair — Goff said, “Love everybody always, and start with
One day, Pastor Ben Cachiaras’ daughter came home from high school excited because she had seen her first fight in school. Two girls started pulling hair, slamming each other into lockers, and a large crowd
Perhaps you know this person? They walk into a room and say, “I am so perfect, I only have four flaws. One, I lack humility; B, I am inconsistent; and I can’t count.” Pastor Ben
Pastor Ben Cachiaras had conversations with two friends recently. One friend told him he had given up listening to the news, because it just made him so angry and he did not like the dark
“We are in a difficult time — angry, ‘angsty’ and anxious. We are ‘politicked off,’” Pastor Ben Cachiaras told the congregation. “The church is seen as part of the problem, and sometimes we are.” Cachiaras
The separation of church and hate might seem an odd theme for a week of sermons at Chautauqua. For Pastor Ben Cachiaras, lead pastor of Mountain Christian Church, headquartered in Joppa, Maryland, it is a
“We are accustomed to leaders who proclaim themselves to be the greatest leader who ever lived,” the Rev. Brian D. McLaren told the virtual congregation at the 9:15 a.m. EDT morning devotional service Friday, Aug.
“If I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” This quote is sometimes attributed to the reformer Martin Luther, The Confessing Church in resistance to the
The Rev. Brian D. McLaren lives in Florida. “We have warnings about hurricanes. These warnings are not about how to make the hurricane go away, but how to endure it. As the Boy Scouts said,
“These are strange times we live in, aren’t they?” the Rev. Brian D. McLaren said to the virtual congregation, then quoted Ephesians 5:15. “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as
Do you agree that “we need a new Declaration of Interdependence?” the Rev. Brian D. McLaren asked the virtual congregation at the 9:15 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 17, morning devotional service on the CHQ Assembly