Dan and I spent two hours Tuesday morning walking around our Pennsauken neighborhood hanging flyers on our neighbor’s door knobs. We wanted them to know that we’re trying to do something new by starting two new Sunday meetings, one at 10:30 a.m. and one at 7:00 p.m. Afterward I marked out the area we hadContinueContinue reading “How, Oh How Can We Be New?”
Author Archives: Benjamin White
All Hands on Deck
“All hands on deck” is an example of a synecdoche. Synecdoche : noun, Rhetoric. 1. a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part. The captain calls, “All hands on deck!” and, of course, he is not calling the whole crew to lop off their hands and throw them to the deck of the ship. The hands are the part of the person he needs at thatContinueContinue reading “All Hands on Deck”
Dan McGowan is a Good Bet
Dan McGowan begins on Monday as our New Meetings Launch Coordinator. We created a position to help us make this daring transition from one meeting to two. In August we will move our existing 5pm meeting to 10:30am and start a new meeting at 5pm. Today, the Leadership Team Core approved the position. We areContinueContinue reading “Dan McGowan is a Good Bet”
South Jersey is Different
My Newjerzaversary Yesterday was the one year mark of my New Jersey home ownership. July 9th will be my residential anniversary (my newjerzaversary). I moved to Haddon Township to get deeper into the region that God called me to as the pastor of Circle of Hope’s South Jersey Congregation. A lot has changed for meContinueContinue reading “South Jersey is Different”
Time for Problems
At 3800 Marlton Pike, we’ve decided to move our current Sunday meeting from the evening to the morning. This is causing a lot of problems. I love problems and I think some people find this a little annoying. If there’s a problem, at least then we know for sure what needs to be done! IfContinueContinue reading “Time for Problems”
Palm Sunday at Midnight in Washington DC
Washington DC is not solely responsible for the numbed-out, gotta-buy-my happiness-and-can’t, bickering-by-default, coercive domination we all suffer as 21st century human beings. Our despair about the way the world is going wasn’t born in the Capitol building, but it is a big bright target in the skyline of our thinking and feeling that is worthContinueContinue reading “Palm Sunday at Midnight in Washington DC”
The Drums of War Beat Me into the Bible
When I was a freshman in college, terrorists high-jacked planes and flew them into The World Trade Center buildings in New York City. I was newly baptized and thus minted a new man, and newly immersed in the Christian subculture at Eastern University in St. David’s, PA. I was dismayed by my classmates response toContinueContinue reading “The Drums of War Beat Me into the Bible”
Swimming Under Niagara Falls with Jesus
At the Lent retreat this weekend we were led to practice prayer of imagination. Here’s a story I wrote about my experience: I’m on the Maid of the Mist, the boat that takes tourist into the clouds at the base of Niagara Falls. If the light is right, there are rainbows everywhere. The light wasn’tContinueContinue reading “Swimming Under Niagara Falls with Jesus”
Eulogy for the Pinelands
Oliver Speaks for the trees Today I wept tears as I saw the writing on the wall of the Crowne Plaza Ballroom in Cherry Hill. So many of us were there to say “no” to a proposed pipeline conceived to send freshly fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania through the Pinelands to a coastal power plantContinueContinue reading “Eulogy for the Pinelands”
Cells are Resistance
Cells are my resistance movement. And this moment in time demands resistance. I’m pretty sure I would be in utter despair if I didn’t have a cell. Circle of Hope organizes into circles of ten we call “cells” where we do the actual work of being Christians together- loving, laughing, lamenting and including the nextContinueContinue reading “Cells are Resistance”
I’m back on campus
Some of you heard the story of how I got kicked off Camden County College’s Blackwood campus last November for holding my “Tell Me Your Story” sign. It caused a bit of a stir among my friends and people I didn’t even know. Someone egged me on to enroll in a class because the securityContinueContinue reading “I’m back on campus”
I actually hit the ground running
It didn’t rain on the 4th day of January (today) so I went for a run. It IS New Year’s resolution time and all. I always take an opportunity to start or renew my discipline because I always need a chance to start again. You may be like me. I’m an “all in” kind ofContinueContinue reading “I actually hit the ground running”
I Got Kicked off of Camden County College’s Campus Today
Yep, you heard that right. I got kicked off of Camden County College’s Blackwood Campus today for hanging out with students who I met while holding a sign that said “Tell Me your Story.” The head of security asked me to leave because I was not an authorized guest. I asked him how I could beContinueContinue reading “I Got Kicked off of Camden County College’s Campus Today”
Holy, Holy Geese
I don’t think I can tell people enough that in Celtic iconography the Holy Spirit is often represented as a wild goose. To the Celts of ancient Ireland and Scotland, Ah Geadh-Glas (Wild Goose) was a more apt description of their experience of the Holy Spirit. How caged and docile is your experience with the HolyContinueContinue reading “Holy, Holy Geese”
Passion might be overrated
Siri tells me that passion means “strong and barely controllable emotion” and I’m like, “Isn’t that a bit extreme?” And she just keeps repeating herself. (Try it, you’ll see) People often describe me as passionate, enthusiastic and the like, and I have often said that my job as a pastor is to stir up the passionContinueContinue reading “Passion might be overrated”
What if I didn’t have to be myself all the time?
A friend of mine was feeling trapped this week by feelings and thoughts he was having that he didn’t like. The exact situation doesn’t really matter that much because I think most of us can supply our own scenarios in which our thoughts and feelings come to us as unwelcome strangers. When this happens, itContinueContinue reading “What if I didn’t have to be myself all the time?”
Jesus will make you a good driving instructor
I’m not a very good driver. This is mostly because I’m easily distracted. Birds, clouds, interesting people, and burritos are numbers 1-4 on my list of most frequent causes for close calls. I am, however, a really good driving instructor. And since it sounds like I’m tooting my own horn, I better quickly say that it’sContinueContinue reading “Jesus will make you a good driving instructor”
Adulting is hard (why do it alone?)
Sometime in the past year, “adulting” crested the horizon of my lexicon. Some more clever or hip people may have been using it long before that, but for about a year I’ve been saying “adulting” to describe all sorts of responsible activities. Usually “adulting” means not going out all night on a week night, payingContinueContinue reading “Adulting is hard (why do it alone?)”
Jesus is always messing things up
Jesus is a disruption. From the very beginning of his story, Jesus is a total disruption. Mary and Joseph probably had other plans for their lives. I’m thinking especially of Joseph who “had in mind to divorce Mary quietly” because she was pregnant but then he had a very unsettling dream. The baby was fromContinueContinue reading “Jesus is always messing things up”
Learning to Be a Team
A revolutionary gathering Last night the cell leaders gathered at our location in North Philly to be the team. They are drawn together from across the region—many neighborhoods, many backgrounds, many (2) states. In a world as divided and lonely as ours the work of our cell leaders is revolutionary. A cell is a circleContinueContinue reading “Learning to Be a Team”
Today, if you hear his voice 