by The Rev. J.C. Austin | Jul 28, 2024
One of my friends in ministry posts the same thing almost every Thursday night. He, like me and many other pastors, takes Fridays as a day off in lieu of Sundays. But unlike me and many other pastors, he is extremely disciplined at actually doing so, regardless of how...
by The Rev. J.C. Austin | Jul 21, 2024
You never do this. You always do that. We literally just talked about this. This again? You sound exactly like your parents right now. Can’t you take a joke? Can’t we just drop this and move on? Those are just some of the greatest hits of toxic communication in...
by The Rev. J.C. Austin | Jul 14, 2024
I have never actually counted them up, but I’ve probably officiated well over 100 weddings in my 20+ years of ordained ministry. And in that time, I can honestly say I’ve never had a true disaster at a wedding I’ve officiated. That’s not to say there haven’t been some...
by Rev. Cynthia Leslie Simmons | Jun 30, 2024
The Apostle Paul was one worried man. He had worked so hard to establish several fledgling Christian congregations in Galatia but now it appeared that his work might go right down the drain. As you heard Jim read during the introduction to the scripture, most of the...
by The Rev. J.C. Austin | Jun 23, 2024
As almost everyone here knows by now, I announced at the beginning of this past week that I would be concluding my ministry in Bethlehem at the end of July in order to accept a call to serve as pastor to another congregation. In the Presbyterian Church, pastors are...
by The Rev. J.C. Austin | Jun 9, 2024
As most of you have heard me say before, one of the most impactful experiences of my childhood was visiting my maternal grandparents on their farm in Alabama. Much of that was with my grandfather, out on the farm learning how to care for animals and crops, or in...
