Coaching ice skating, in some ways, isn’t far from teaching others about the church: It requires a knowledge of the rules involved, but it also means that I, too, must be willing to learn and listen and respond.

It is easy to think of older people as always having existed in their current condition. Does it make us feel younger to think that way? More superior? Perhaps we hope it holds our own mortality at bay.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development has found that deep relationships are a key to long term emotional well-being. As I read their findings, I found myself wondering how many people would include a relationship with God as one of the deep personal relationships of their lives.

How the spiritual sponsor of A.A.’s Bill W. began his ministry

Parents always think the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and their kids are the hapless passengers in the front. And parents are usually wrong, but not for the reasons they would think.

When someone dies, it is only right that family and friends be given a chance to share their memories of their loved one. But the balance between pastoral care and logistical realities can be a tough one to strike.