Nov 30, 2022 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris “Have you made your Christmas list, yet?” I can no more tell you how many times I heard that growing up than there are stars in the heavens. Its refrain echoes through our Christmas conversations to this day — though now it is grandparents,...
Nov 23, 2022 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris This past Sunday, I sat in the choir loft, eyes glued on the handbell ensemble playing the offertory song. The tune that they were playing was an old Shaker hymn. Had they been singing, these are the words: “’Tis the gift to be simple,...
Nov 16, 2022 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris Where do you come from? Who are your people? Our families of origin can tell us a lot about a person. Some of it, we are proud of — legacies of faith, hard work, respect, and a good name passed down from generation to generation. For others, we...
Nov 9, 2022 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris Another election season is (mostly) behind us and we are left to ask, “What now?” I feel compelled to offer a pastoral response. The past months and years continually remind us that this is a time of deep division. I admit that my...
Nov 2, 2022 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, Reported in the E-Vision
By Steven Norris Have you ever known a social chameleon? I am talking about that individual that seems to become a different person based on who is around them in a given moment. The person who will act one way around church folks and a completely different way...
Oct 25, 2022 | Grace Notes, Homepage Feature, News, Reported in the E-Vision
Photo by Håkon Grimstad on Unsplash By Steven Norris Conversion is at the heart of the religious experience. The scriptures are full of stories of individuals who were headed in one direction (often a destructive, violent, or painful direction) when they have a...
