In this political season we are hearing a lot about flip-flopping, politicizing and pandering.  It does often seem that the candidates say one thing in one setting and spin things differently in front of a different audience. Last week President Obama came out in favor of same-sex marriage....

Being a woman in ministry is a challenge.  Being a mother in ministry is a real battle.  We give so much of ourselves away to others, it often feels that there is very little left to give to our families. If you asked each of my three girls how they have been impacted by my ministry you are...

“Breathe Wendy, just breathe”, are words I heard a lot my first year leading our AmeriCorps program.  I had no idea what I was in for.   I was working as a full-time volunteer Executive Director and I hired 20 people almost all of whom were straight out of a drug treatment facility. ...

In June 2009, I fell while visiting in Hillside Court and shattered my wrist.  I had to have a plate put in my arm with several pins and skews to hold the various parts of my bones together.  I learned from the severity of my injury that I have osteopenia, which is a precursor to...

Recently I heard a local pastor say something along the lines of, “We need to focus more on building on-ramps to the kingdom and less on parking lots for the church.” Many would agree that the church universal spends way too much time focusing on its own needs – building campaigns,...

I have been coaching the missions director of an urban church that is seeking to be more developmental in their approach to meeting the needs of their neighbors.  The first question we had to answer is, “Who are your neighbors?” Over the past few months we have been meeting residents of...

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.        Howard Thurman Pastor Sammy Williams recently asked his congregation, “What makes you come alive?” After...

This week we launched our north side Dream Team with the following stated purpose: The goal of this group is to discern how God might be calling Embrace Richmond, Northminster Church and each of us individually to be agents of blessing to the north side. We will be using an asset based...

This Sunday started out with a painful choice. My eldest daughter who is heading off to college in a few months wanted to spend the day with us as a family at our property, my absolute favorite place.  It is rare that she is the one asking to go. My youngest daughter committed to working in...

My family is celebrating Easter, which happens to fall on my husband’s birthday, at a condo on the beach in Top Sail Island, North Carolina.  This is the view from my balcony this morning: Last night my family played the game Apples to Apples and one of the words was the word,...

I recently heard a pastor say that the most important question a church can ask itself is, “What would it look like if God’s kingdom were to become fully manifest in our neighborhood, our city, our nation and our world?” I would add that the second most important question a church can...

In January, at the invitation of Northminster Church, my Embrace Richmond team started a new work in Richmond’s north side (specifically the neighborhoods bordering Brookland Park Boulevard from Moss Side to North Avenue.) The first phase of any new community development effort is...