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The Pulpit and the Pen is moving to a new site to better reflect my new situation as I move to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Check out and bookmark From A Rocky Hillside. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Blog
John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (2004, Penguin Books, New York, 2018), 548 pages, some photos, index and notes. This is an impressive book that does more than just provide … Continue reading
The finish was exciting. An offshore breeze was blowing steadily toward the land and many of the boats still in the race were all convening on the R2W buoy two miles off Wassaw Island at the same time. There was … Continue reading
Jesse Cole, Find Your Yellow Tux: How to be Successful by Standing Out (Lioncrest Publishing, 2018), 303 pages, some photos. The Back Story: One of the most amazing things I’ve seen while living in the Savannah area is the development … Continue reading
Things have been busy at my house as we are now showing it and trying to begin packing for our move to Virginia… But the busyness hasn’t kept me from sailing, as I crewed a boat up to Hilton Head … Continue reading
David Lee, Mine Tailings (Boulder, UT: Five Sisters Press, 2019), 79 pages. David Lee was formerly the poet laurate of Utah and has been affectionally referred to as “the Pig Poet.” About the time I was leaving Utah, Lee … Continue reading
I was not planning on making a change, but it’s happening. Maybe it was COVID. We’ve certainly have had more time to think and ponder about what is important. Could God be using this time to open me to listening? … Continue reading
James H. Cone, (Marynoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2011), 202 pages including notes and an index. The late James Cone (1938-2018) tackled a tough topic, linking together the most powerful symbol for Christians, the cross, and the most shameful symbol … Continue reading
David Zucchino, Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020), 426 pages including notes, bibliography, and index along with 12 additional pages of prints. On November 10, 1898, Wilmington, … Continue reading
Michael P. Cohen, Granite and Grace: Seeking the Heart of Yosemite (Reno: University of Nevada, 2019), 220 pages. A few hand drawn maps and line drawings at the top of each chapter by Valerie Cohen. When most people think of … Continue reading
As Father’s Day is this weekend… It’s not true that I’m crazy about fishing. I enjoy it, but mostly I enjoy being outdoors and fishing is one way to fulfill such a desire. My father, however, is crazy about fishing. … Continue reading
Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermoplyae (New York: Bantan Books, 1998), 386 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel that is based on ancient Greek historians’ writings, especially Herodotus. The story is told through … Continue reading
Nancy Koester, Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), 371 pages, B&W photos, notes. Harriet Beecher Stowe is best known for her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel’s popularity fueled the anti-slavery movement in the North and … Continue reading
The other day I was telling someone about going to Austin in early March. He told me of all the places he lived, that he liked Austin the best, that it was a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup … Continue reading
Eric Goodman, Cuppy and Stew: The Bombing of Flight 629, A Love Story (San Francisco: IF SF Publishing, 2020), 220 pages with a few photographs. The narrator is Susan, the youngest daughter of Cuppy and Stew, who died in the … Continue reading
Surprisingly, things have been pretty busy for the past six weeks. You’d think t hat wouldn’t be the case since many places are closed down to visitors so I’m not making hospital or nursing home visits. Our office is closed … Continue reading
What are you reading this days? Looking for a good book while you isolate yourself? Here are three books from books I recently read. It’s by sheer accident that two of them discuss Epictetus (but different parts of his philosophy): … Continue reading
The 2020 baseball season was scheduled to kickoff this past weekend. Unfortunately, it has been postponed due to the current pandemic. So here is a poem I wrote this weekend (you can even listen to it–how neat is that) along … Continue reading
If you have time on your hands as we wait out this pandemic, there are two good books that I recommend to anyone who enjoys history. In they cover three wars (Mexican, Civil, and World War II). S. C. Gwynne, … Continue reading
I spent the last week at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in a Foundation for Reformed Theology seminar discussing the writings of John Leith. The seminary’s campus is just north of the University of Texas’ campus, which allowed us to do … Continue reading
W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking, LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media (2018, Mariner Books, Boston, 2019), 407 pages including index and notes plus eight pages of photos. This timely book begins in 2009 with Donald Trump’s first tweet, promoting … Continue reading
Back in December, The Armchair Squid honored me with this award. Sorry to disappoint you, but I will give no acceptance speeches that flaunt my politics. I like how “the Squid” modified the original rules: You don’t have to display … Continue reading
David Sedaris, Thief by Finding (audiobooks, 1977) 13 hours 52 minutes. Years ago, I read Me Talk Pretty One Day. It was a very funny book and I’m not sure why it took me so long to get around to … Continue reading
Francis Wilhoit was born in 1920. He was a little younger than my grandmother, and he died a number of years before her, in 2010, at the age of 90. I never met him (as far as I know), but … Continue reading
When I was in seminary, there was a debate at how often communion should be served in Chapel. This essay, which I recently came across, has it’s roots in that debate which occurred 30-some years ago. It displays my somewhat … Continue reading
Patrick F. McManus, Kerplunk! (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 227 pages. There is a favorite used bookstore in Wilmington, North Carolina that I often stop in when I’m home. This time I was looking to pick up another … Continue reading
I am in North Carolina, taking a few days off and sitting inside watching it rain… Here’s my last post of the year as I review two recent books I’ve read. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year’s Eve … Continue reading
Merry Christmas everyone. Today was beautiful in South Georgia, a nice day for a walk with the dog, after opening present, playing a new board game (Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails), and continually snacking on ham. For the past … Continue reading
Granddaddy Faircloth Christmas Day, 1966 Jeff Garrison I’m now ten years older than you were when I snapped that photo, a nine year old boy on Christmas morning with his new camera, a Kodak Instamatic. It took some persuasion for … Continue reading
A little over a month ago, I attended the closing session of the Pat Conroy festival. Most of the events were held in Beaufort, SC, but the closing one was held in Bluffton, which is just across the river a … Continue reading
Jeff Garrison A talk given at the St. Andrew Society for the City of Savannah’s Annual Banquet November 30, 2019 The title for my talk this evening is “A Glorious Defeat.” By the time I’m done, I hope you … Continue reading
Every day, Garrison Keillor sends out a new edition of “The Writer’s Almanac.” He always begins each day’s post with a poem. Today’s poem was by Charles Simic and titled “Nineteen Thirty-eight.” Thinking about his poem written about the year of … Continue reading
Bonnie Jo Campbell, Once Upon a River (New York: W.W. Norton, 2011), 348 pages. I enjoyed this novel even though it was hard to get through the opening part which included an incestuous rape of Margo, a teenage girl. … Continue reading
Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century (New York: Knopf, 1978), 720 pages including notes and index. Some plates of photos and artwork. The world, or at least Western Europe, seemed to be coming apart in the … Continue reading
Not Guilty by C. Lee McKenzie Published October 2019 This book grabbed my attention in the first chapter and kept me engaged throughout. I didn’t want to put it down, wanting to figure out how the protagonist, Devon, gets through … Continue reading
Last night, Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church held our first “Civility Forum.” The purpose of these forums is to help people communicate with those with whom they disagree and to be civil in their discourse. It was moderated by Jessica Savage, … Continue reading
A high bluff along the western bank of the Lumber River just south of US 74, Pea Ridge is a lovely spot. We arrive early enough to enjoy it. For a wilderness site that is only accessible to the public … Continue reading
Beverly Willett, Disassembly Required: A Memoir of Midlife Resurrection (New York: Post Hill Press, 2019), 269 pages. The framework of this story is rather simple. The author sells her home in Brooklyn, New York and moves to Savannah, Georgia. … Continue reading
It’s been a while since I had a post on my activities, so I decided I’d do a full moon to full moon post. The August full moon occured on the 15th, and I was at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky. It … Continue reading
Dorian is gone. It was more a “non-event” here. I ended up not evacuating even though I continued to watch the Weather Channel to see if things might change. But the storm stayed well off the Georgia coast. We received … Continue reading
This photo was taken at Delegal Creek last night as the sunset. Hurricane Dorian is several hundred miles south at this point. Today, as I write this, we have had a few bands of rain with wind, but nothing too … Continue reading
Zach Powers, First Cosmic Velocity (New York: Putman, 2019), 340 pages. I’m not sure how to classify this novel. At times I thought the author had written the first anti-Sci-fi (similar to the anti-western genre of films that began … Continue reading
John Sexton, Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game (New York: Gotham Books, 2013), 242 pages including photos, index and bibliography. Sexton, the president of New York University, has written a wonderful book that shares … Continue reading
J. Philip Newell, Listening to the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1997), 112 pages. I have some problems with this book, but I’m glad I read it. I did like the last chapter where … Continue reading
This is another “recycled blog post” from an old blog from my journey from Indonesia to Europe taken during a sabbatical in 2011. I am concentrating on my travel blogs (mostly by train) instead of the others where I was … Continue reading
A lot of students have fantasies of having teachers locked up. For my 5th grade teacher, it wasn’t a fantasy, it was a horrific experience. As a Marine embassy guard in China, which was behind enemy lines when the war began, … Continue reading
This post is from an older blog of mine from when I was on a Sabbatical and traveled overland trip from Southeast Asia to Europe. As much as possible, I traveled by trains. We pull out of Singapore’s Tangong … Continue reading
Joy Harjo, Conflict Resolutions for Holy Beings: Poems. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2015) 139 pages. I picked up this book after learning that Joy Harjo has been appointed poet laureate for the United States. It’s exciting because she’s the … Continue reading
I spent last week at a church camp at the Ebeneezer Retreat Center near Rincon, Georgia. I led the outdoor activities for the youth, which included taking the middle and high school youth on a canoe trip. While they … Continue reading
From my recent readings. They’re all different! Anjali Sachdeva, All the Names They Used for God (Siegel & Grau, 2018), 257 pages. This is a collection of short stories and the first book by Ms. Sachdeva. I heard Sachdeva read … Continue reading
This is my third and final post about a 5 day, 4 night paddle in the Okefenokee Swamp. The map shows our route as we started at Kingfisher … Continue reading
This blessing was read at the end of worship yesterday, June 9th, as we honored Hazel for all she has done for our community. In the afternoon, the Landings Association held a reception for Hazel at the Sunset Room at … Continue reading
This is Part 2 of a 3 part series on a recent trip through the Okefenokee Swamp. Click here for part 1. It is amazing how tired one can be after a day of paddling. Last night, we both were … Continue reading
We leave our vehicles at Okefenokee Adventures where we have arranged for a shuttle to our put-in site some twenty-five miles to the north. In five days (four for Gary, who will leave a day before me), I’ll come out … Continue reading
David Halberstam, The Fifties (1993, New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), 800 pages including index’s and notes, plus 32 pages of black and white prints. The decade was 70% completed when I was born. I have no recall of the … Continue reading
Yesterday’s worship service focused on our responsible use of social media. Here is a review of a book that reminds the church how we might use such media in a positive way. Click here to read yesterday’s sermon, “A Light … Continue reading
I’m catching up on my reading… I keep thinking I’ll write short reviews for posts like this and I never do! These are some of the books I’ve read over the past month. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus (2003, New … Continue reading
This was originally posted in my other blog and written in January 2012, shortly after making this trip. The air is crisp and Orion has dropped into the western sky as we make our way into the Flagstaff train … Continue reading
Notes on the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans Bruce Ezell, ©2003 These questions and answers on the Kirkin come from Elder Bruce Ezell, an elder at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church (North Carolina). It was written as a primer for their Kirkin’ … Continue reading
Easter Sunrise Services are held at Landings Harbor Marina this Sunday (April 21) at 6:30 PM. Below is an article that appeared in The Skinnie, March 16, 2018. The Sun Will Come Up The wake-up call came at … Continue reading
Arthur C. Brooks, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America for the Culture of Contempt (HarperCollins, 2019), 243 pages, index and notes. In this year’s January Series from Calvin College, I heard Brooks speak. Much of his … Continue reading
I am heading to a conference at Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian Conference Center in North New Mexico, so there will be no sermon this week. Instead, let me catch up by providing three short (for me) book reviews of works … Continue reading
Belden C. Lane, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality (Oxford University Press, 1988), 282 pages including notes, index, and some photos included within the text. This is a complicated book. Lane weaves together personal experiences in … Continue reading
Dan Janal, Write Your Book in a Flash: The Paint-by-Numbers System to Write the Book of Your Dreams-Fast! (TCK Publishing, 2018), 180 pages. I was skeptical as I began flipping through this book. I was easy to skim and … Continue reading
Courtney Hargrave, Burden: A Preacher, A Klansman, and a True Story of Redemption in the Modern South (New York: Convergent Books, 2018), 227 pages, no photos or index, 22 pages of notes and sources. Michael Burden, a troubled young … Continue reading
I am loving my winter garden. It is the only advantage of living where there is no real winter. In the fall, I planted cabbage (red and green), cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, three kinds of lettuce, … Continue reading
Some of you have followed this on Facebook, but I thought I would compile the process here. What started with a neighboring farmer offering a couple of turmeric rhizomes (the tubers from which spice is harvested and which also grows … Continue reading
Ron Chernow, Grant (New York: Penguin, 2017), 1074 pages including bibliography, an index, and 16 pages of black and white photos. U. S. Grant is an amazing story. Even how he came upon his name (which was latter joked to … Continue reading
Billy Beasley, The Preacher’s Letter. (Little Elm, TX: eLectio Publishing, 2018), 265 pages Troy Dawkins is a middle aged kid trying to figure out life. He lives a solidarity life with his dog, Max, working as a bouncer at … Continue reading
Needing some “me” time, I took off Sunday afternoon and paddled over to Little Tybee Island, where I camped, returning on Monday. The weather was marginal, as it had rained in the morning and was still gray at 3:30 PM, … Continue reading
Olivia Laing, To the River (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2011), 281 pages, a few black and white photos. The first sentence of this book, “I am haunted by waters,” jumped out at me. I’d read it before. It’s the ending line … Continue reading
Scott Stillman, Wilderness: The Gateway to the Soul (Boulder, CO: Wild Soul Press, 2018), 198 pages. I really wanted to like this book. I thought I would enjoy it. After all, like Stillman, I have done many wilderness trips, both … Continue reading
A version of this article of mine appeared in the Presbyterian Outlook, volume 181, #42 (December 20, 1999. The elevator inside the over-sized Coca-Cola bottle whisks us up to the fourth floor. As we step out and back into the 1930’s, … Continue reading
Joseph D. Small, Flawed Church, Faithful God: A Reformed Ecclesiology for the Real World (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2018), 242 pages including indexes and bibliography. It has been suggested that ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church, is the weak link … Continue reading
I was scheduled to preach at an anniversary service for a church in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Sunday, September 23. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it as all the roads had flooded thanks to hurricane Florence. Furthermore, the … Continue reading
Harrison Scott Key, Congratulations, Who Are You Again? A Memoir (New York: Harpers, 2018) , 347 pages including five appendices and no illustrations except an ink figure of a dog drawn by Beetle, the author’s daughter, while I waited for … Continue reading
A blessing for Walt and Carol Walt and Carol, when you first came here, I am sure you had no idea what this place would hold: the joy and laughter, the celebration of holidays, the seriousness of the study of … Continue reading
I haven’t written anything about my travels West in late September and early October. We flew into Las Vegas and drove up for a few days in Cedar City, Utah, where we saw many friends and spent time with … Continue reading
Stephen Kinzer, The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013), 402 pages including notes, bibliography and index plus 8 plates of black and white photographs. Two of the most … Continue reading
Larry Larance, A Better Looking Corpse: and other Southern Short Stories (Savannah, GA: Windchimes Press, 2007) 203 pages I haven’t meet Larance, but we live on the same island (Skidaway). I was lent a copy of his book by … Continue reading
David Gessner, Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder (Ballantine Books, 2001), 289 pages, 1 rough map. I purchased this book (along with an alumni sweatshirt) ten years ago at the University of North Carolina at … Continue reading
This summer Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church made a major investment in our sanctuary to both enhance our worship with four large screens and to broadcast our worship with three remote controlled cameras. Out thanks to everyone who played a role … Continue reading
I will be away for the next two weeks, so I thought I’d leave you with a blog post that I wrote in June 2011, when I was on Sabbatical and traveling mostly by train across Indonesia and then from … Continue reading
Last week, I spent three days at New Ebenezer Retreat Center, which is located near Rincon, about an hour west of her. I spent the time planning sermons for the coming year, some writing, and some reading. But since the … Continue reading
Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China by Sherry Ellis My friend, Sherry Ellis, has just published a new children’s book about two kids digging their way to China. In kicking off its publication, she asked her blogging friends to … Continue reading
Carey Nieuwhof, Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences (New York: WaterBrook, 2018), 211 pages. In this book Nieuwhof draws on personal events within his own life as he outlines … Continue reading
John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings (New York: Doubleday, 2008), 223 pages In the winter of 2000, I bumped into a Buddhist monk at a temple outside of Sunch’on, South Korea. He immediately stepped … Continue reading
George Saunders, Pastoralia: Stories and a Novella (New York: Riverhead Books, 2000), 189 pages. As I read the novella, Pastoralia, I was reminded of the trapped souls in Kafka’s writings. Here, two characters are a part of a primitive … Continue reading
With a new PBS documentary coming on our Mister Rogers, along with a movie starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers in the works, it’s a good time to look back on this gentle man and what he taught. For a couple … Continue reading
This article appeared in the October 22, 2007 issue of the Presbyterian Outlook. The photo is from the early 1990s and shows Brent and a younger me (I still had some hair) after a day of skiing in Ellicottville, NY. … Continue reading
Eric Goodman, In the Days of Awe (New York: Washington Square Press, 1991), 288 pages. It appears that Jewish Joe Singer has hit rock bottom. A talented pitcher is, at the end of one season, divorced and banned from baseball. … Continue reading
by Jeff Garrison The 223rd General Assembly that met in St. Louis this June provided an opportunity for me to reflect back on ministry and the denomination. My first General Assembly, the 200th, was held in St. Louis in 1988. … Continue reading
Michelle Layer Rahal, Straining Forward: Minh Phuong Towner’s Story (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press, 2018), 355 pages, 10 pages of photos. I was introduced to Minh in 2011. I was preparing a sabbatical after leading First Presbyterian Church of Hastings … Continue reading
I looked at Weather Bug or maybe it was Weather Underground Friday morning before setting off on a solo paddle to Wassaw Island. According to what I saw, there was a 30 percent chance of rain, which would diminish after … Continue reading
For the last few years I have been a part of a writer’s group, the Peacock Guild, that meets in the childhood home of Flannery O’Conner. Every year we hold a public reading on a Sunday afternoon. It’s the last … Continue reading
Last Wednesday evening was the final Bible Study class until fall. During these classes, someone volunteers to make soup and provide bread for a simple meal. As I am teaching, I don’t often volunteer, but as we were coming toward … Continue reading
Alister McGrath, In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changes a Nation, A Language, and a Culture (2001: New York: Anchor, 2002). 338 pages, a few illustrations, list of sources and an index. While … Continue reading
Where there is despair, give hope. Where there is darkness, bring light. Where there is ignorance, grant wisdom, And for those of us who have grasped the truth, give humility. -Rev. Dr. Raymond Nott One of the benefits and … Continue reading
My grandmother was moved from her home of 70 years in 2008, to an assisted living facility near my Uncle’s near Hickory NC. In 2009, I was back visiting in NC and my Uncle brought my grandmother back to her … Continue reading
Most of us camping on Garden Key stand together on the beach watching the light fade from the western sky. The skies are mostly clear and the water surrounding the Key and Fort Jefferson ripples in from the southerly wind. … Continue reading
Marc A. Jolley, Safe at Home: A Memoir of God, Baseball, and Family (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2005), 139 pages, a few photos. This is a delightful book in which Jolley recalls childhood memories with his father on … Continue reading
Buck and Nancy were the youth group advisors at church during my Senior High years. They were both teachers. Buck, who’d done a stint with the Marine Corps as an officer in Vietnam, taught high school biology and Nancy taught in … Continue reading
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. He was shot early in the evening of April 4th, 1968. In honor of the memory, I attended a Learning Center lecture held at First … Continue reading
Leon Prather, Sr., “We Have Taken a City”: The Wilmington Racial Massacre and the Coup of 1898 (1984, Southport, NC: Dram Tree Books, 2006), 214 pages, black and white photos. “Politics, the old cliche goes, “makes strange bedfellows.” This can be seen in … Continue reading
Brennen Arkins, The Magic Kings (2015), 259 pages. The transition from elementary to middle school is a tough time for all students. For Alan and his classmates, it is made more uncertain by the 911 terrorist attacks that occurs at … Continue reading
Jeff Garrison Burns’ Night Talk St. Andrew’s Society of the City of Savannah January 26, 2018 Wow! In our program I am identified as a Rector. I’m not sure how to take this. Should I be honored? After all, … Continue reading
This morning I was one of three wise guys to present a short seasonal talk at the Skidaway Island Kiwanis Club. I was honored to share the podium with Pastor Jason Talness of Messiah Lutheran (he’s from Minnesota and a … Continue reading
Archibald Rutledge, Peace in the Heart (New York: Doubleday & Co, 1930), 316 pages, no illustrations Margaret Reagan introduced me to Archibald Rutledge and lent me this book. It’s the second of his books that I’ve read. Rutledge was … Continue reading
Jeff Garrison Published in the Presbyterian Outlook, September 29, 2003 They’re marching in Alabama again. This time the destination is Montgomery and those marching are supporting Judge Roy Moore’s fight to keep a granite monument of the Ten Commandments … Continue reading
A New Logo The Session of Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church has adopted a new logo for our congregation. The logo includes our name, wavy lines representing water, the cross and the sign of the Trinity which together form a tree. … Continue reading
I know I raised a lot of questions with my sermon last week. Some of you really liked the sermon and encouraged me to keep taking bold steps while others were less encouraging. It was my hope that we would … Continue reading
As I have been preaching from the Jacob stories in Genesis this August and September, I thought I would also share a review to a novel based on Jacob’s story: Frederick Buechner, Son of Laughter (San Francisco: Harpers Collins, 1994), … Continue reading
When I first look up at the sun through those funky glasses, it appears as if someone had taken just a nibble out of a cookie. Donna and I are in Springfield, South Carolina, a small town south … Continue reading
Rosalind K. Marshall, Columba’s Iona: A New History (Dingwall, Scotland, UK: Sandstone Press, 2014) 210 pages plus 24 color plates, 8 black and white plates, notes, bibliography, and index. One must make a significant effort to visit Iona. It’s a … Continue reading
Jane Dawson, John Knox, (New Haven: Yale, 2015), 373 pages, index and notes and 8 pages of illustrations. John Knox, the Protestant Reformer of Scotland, is often portrayed as a dour masochistic preacher and an opponent of Mary, Queen of … Continue reading
This Sunday, April 23, 2017, Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church will celebrate Scottish heritage with a Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans service. This blog post is a repeat of one done in 2016. The Kirkin’ is a colorful and festive service that … Continue reading
Much of this material was taken from my homily during Al’s Memorial Service held at Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church on February 23, 2017. Here I am able to quote all of the first two letters Al wrote Chuck Colson. … Continue reading
I lost my grandmother this week. For a guy who’s been bald up top for longer than he’d like to remember, it was a blessing to have a grandmother for so long. I hope there is no prohibition against telling … Continue reading
Craig Detweiler, iGods: How Technology shapes our Spiritual and Social Lives (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2013), 246 pages. Endnotes and an index. This is an enlightening book. A substantial part of the book is an overview of the … Continue reading
The Passion A Movie Review by Jeff Garrison Published in The Hastings Banner March 2004 Two hours of intense brutality. Over and over again, rods and whips struck Jesus as the crowd called for vengeance that the … Continue reading
On Sunday, April 10, 2016, Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church will celebrate Scottish heritage with a Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans service. This colorful and festive service will include the flying of dozens of tartans throughout the Sanctuary along with a procession … Continue reading
An article about barbecue and North Carolina politics in the New York Times today got me thinking about Ron Carroll, who hired me to work for the Boy Scouts in early 1981. Ron died in 2006, ten years this month. … Continue reading
Lucy Barrett, Salad Days in the Golden Years: Introducing Virginia and Matilda (Cleveland TN: Penman Publishing, 2015), 182 page This is a delightful novel written by a member of the church and a resident of Skidaway Island. This past year, … Continue reading
I was asked to speak at an ecumenical service over the Martin Luther King weekend titled “Voices of Justice and Mercy” and was asked to briefly reflect (5-6 minutes) on what we might learn from someone in our church’s tradition … Continue reading
The Moravian Love Feast and Savannah Jeff Garrison Published in The Skinnie, December 19, 2014, edited for 2015 A Love Feast is a service of song, scripture, and prayer. During the worship service, the dieners (German for servers), serve the congregation a … Continue reading
Jeff Garrison Published in an op-ed column in The Spectrum (St. George, UT) April 11, 2003 “Daddy, are you sad Mr. Rogers died?” My five-year-old daughter, with a reassuring voice, played the role of a good neighbor as she expressed concern for my … Continue reading
An edited copy of this article appeared in The Skinnie’s November 27th issue. The Sacred Harp Tradition on Skidaway Island Jeff Garrison It is a joy to be in the presence of Sacred Harp singing. The voices blend together as the music … Continue reading
Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (New York: Dutton, 2009), 210 pages Idolatry is not just a failure to obey God, it is a setting of the whole … Continue reading
Pastoral Prayer for November 15, 2015 Jeff Garrison Almighty God, you tell us not to be afraid, but once again we gathered in fear as we hear happening around our world. Once again, we gather with a realization that things … Continue reading
The Gift By Jeff Garrison I was helping my grandmother pack up to move from her Moore County home when she called me into her bedroom. “Can you remove that picture over my bed?” she asked. As long … Continue reading
A Walk in the Woods (2015, 1 hour and 44 minutes) With the storms we’ve been having, Donna and I decided to go to the movies on Labor Day to see “A Walk in the Woods.” After all, I’ve hiked … Continue reading
Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith (New York: Harper Collins, 2009), 216 pages. Where do we encounter the divine? Have we created a false dichotomy, partitioning God off into a corner, away from our daily … Continue reading
This is my thoughts on Sailboat Church: Helping Your Church Rethink Its Mission and Practice by Joan Gray (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2014). In Sailboat Church, Joan Gray uses a sailboat as a metaphor for what a Spirit-filled Church … Continue reading
One of the books I read while on Study Leave was Thomas Long and Thomas Lynch’s The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and the Community of Care. I read this at my grandma’s house and on Sunday, while there, I did … Continue reading
These are some beginning thoughts I have concerning the debates going on in our country regarding the Confederate battle flag, racism, and a book to be released today that I have not yet read! I am glad that the flag … Continue reading
Last March, I took a week vacation primarily to officiate at my niece’s wedding in North Carolina. But before heading to the Old North State, I (along with 8 other men) headed to the Okefenokee for a two-night, three-day adventure. … Continue reading
We were in New York last Sunday morning, I decided to check out Madison Avenue Baptist Church. The pastor is Susan Sparks and I’d read her book, Laughing Your Way to Grace: Reclaiming the Spiritual Power of Humor. Anyone who … Continue reading
Some people think I am crazy about fishing, but that’s not the case. I enjoy fishing, but I mostly enjoy being outdoors. My father, however, is crazy about fishing. Most of what he taught me about life came through the … Continue reading
The Blessing of the Fleet 2015 Prayer of Thanksgiving, Blessings, and Petitions Almighty God, at the beginning of creation, your Spirit hovered over the deep. You separated the waters from the land, set the sun and the stars on their … Continue reading
Wayne Muller, How, Then, Shall We Live? Four Simple Questions that Reveal the Beauty and Meaning of Our Lives (New York: Bantam Books, 1996), 289 pages. Wayne Muller is an ordained minister (he doesn’t give a denomination), a psychotherapist and the founder … Continue reading
Charles Seabrook, The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2013), 397 pages including an index and notes The salt marsh is an amazing landscape that … Continue reading
This past Sunday I was asked if there was a story behind the silver cross I normally wear in worship over my robe. Well, yes, there is. As I was preparing to head to seminary in Pittsburgh, I accepted a … Continue reading
Charles Partee, The Theology of John Calvin (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2008), 345 pages The Theology of John Calvin is a fitting magnus opus for Charles Partee, who devoted a lifetime to studying and understanding the work of the … Continue reading
This is a talk I presented to the Skidaway Island Kiwanis Club this morning. Christmas 1988. It was the first time that I would not have any family around during the holidays. It was my first white Christmas. And it was … Continue reading
Paul C. Gutjahr, Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011) 477 pages including an index, notes, bibliography and a few photos. Charles Hodge taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for over fifty years and was perhaps the most … Continue reading
On Sunday, September 28, I will begin a five part sermon series that will focus on the five parts of “shared ministry” that is outlined in my covenant with the Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church. In preparation for beginning this journey, I … Continue reading
Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 200 pages The title of this book intrigued me. I have long been a fan of Barbara Brown Taylor and have read most everything she’s published. An Altar … Continue reading
This is a post about a final walk through Hastings, where I served as a pastor for 10 1/2 years. Hopefully it will provide a glimpse of my background. The Old Presbyterian Church, now a community center. This photo was … Continue reading