Mr. Locke’s Classroom

Although I grew up in El Paso and Mexico was (quite literally) a stone’s throw from my house, I never really connected much with Mexican culture or the issues (like immigration) that are an inherent part of living and working in a border community.  So for my internship this summer at 1st Presbyterian Church in [...]

At this summer’s PC(USA) General Assembly, I was frequently asked the question “What church do you belong to?” This question always gave me some pause, and I’m not sure I ever figured out the best way to answer, other than saying “Which one?” At the moment, I belong to four different church communities with varying [...]

Tomorrow will be the first of three sermons I’ll preach during my internship here at First Presbyterian Church of El Paso, Tx. This one draws from the lectionary passage (Amos 7:7-17) as well as a few scattered reflections from General Assembly 219 and my personal angst over the ongoing “numbers crisis” in the PC(USA). While [...]

So today I’m presenting a workshop for the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators at their 2010 Annual Conference in Nashville, TN. Yesterday, I led a Presbymergent conversation group for those interested in exploring the intersection between the Emerging Church and the PCUSA — it was an interesting chat in light of all the recent proclamations [...]

What follows is my application essay for a PCUSA New Church Development Discernment  Conference this October, answering the simple question “Why do you want to attend this event?”  Since it marks some major changes (or clarification) in my thinking, and tracks some things I’ve been involved with recently, I thought it might be good to [...]

In my Church History class, we have recently moved from the early era of the persecuted church into the era of the church-in-bed-with-the-empire.  This also happens to be the era of creeds.  I get the sense that for many, this represents merely a bunch of names, dates, and outcomes to memorize.  Ancient History.  But for [...]

Bruce Reyes-Chow, who is to the Presbyterian Church what Jesus was to mankind, but without the whole divinity thing [ducks in anticipation of things being thrown at him], and who also happens to be our very serious and distinguished moderator, is at it again with the memes.  I had the honor of being tagged by [...]