This week marked the twentieth anniversary of my arrival at Austin Seminary to begin my theological education. The lease on my apartment...

And so it begins…. The 226th General Assembly (2024) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) began on Tuesday, June 25 with a brief opening...

I was heartened by the Tri-Presbytery Meeting last weekend. The gathering of the three Oklahoma Presbyteries and Presbyterians from...

Rev. Jeff Cranton, moderator of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry, and I attended the Board of Pensions’ Season of...

Easter is not over! Hopefully that comes as the very best news, although some extremely tired pastors may hear it differently. The...

Earlier in my career, I was a part of a lectionary group that was pivotal to my ministry. The group met on Wednesday mornings at Kamp’s...

Preface: There was a time in my ministry where I wrote about Austin too much. I will admit this.  The city and the seminary had...

The latest edition of the Presbyterian Outlook focused on small churches and began many conversations in doing so. From the Editor’s...

One of my go-to lines when teaching or preaching has always been “it didn’t have to be this way.” It is the kind of saying that stirs us...

I lived in the country growing up, so most of my time was spent outdoors. Despite my youthful appearance, I am still of a generation...

Standing in a familiar pulpit recently, I suddenly realized I did not recognize most of the people in the pews in front of me. At one...

The New York Times recently reported on the growing trend of absenteeism in schools. 10% of students were absent on the average day in...

For many years, a dozen or so panes of glass on the east side of the chapel at Austin Seminary were noticeably different. Tall, opaque...

On a recent road trip in Texas, I encountered a sign of the changing nature of the modern church. The sign involved the signs and...

When I was in seminary and avoiding a particularly dense reading assignment, I went to the common room in the dorm of the seminary to...

Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” (Mark 16:3 NRSV) is a profound and subtle question in the closing...

by Rev. Ray VandeGiessen - First Presbyterian Church of Miami, Oklahoma Leaders from three small Oklahoma Presbyterian churches gathered...

What brings you joy? What excites you so much that you want to run and tell others? About what are you passionate? I have always disliked...

One of the great temptations of ministry is measuring yourself, your ministry, or your church against what others – friends, colleagues,...

So what does all of this mean? We continue in Christmastide until Epiphany on January 6, but what was it all for? The months of planning...