Dave Buerstetta on striving to do justice and love others while walking humbly with God
This week I had the privilege of meeting Ashley, the store manager at WAR Chest Boutique in downtown Naperville. I know. At first glance, it's a really odd name. "WAR Chest? What kind of horrible stuff do they sell?!?" But step inside and you quickly discover - not a dark place with skulls or guns …
Continue reading Nothing says “I love you, Mom” like freedom.
That’s what we exploring at our next evening worship experiment this Sunday, March 4 at 5:00pm. Hope you'll join us! First, a short video to get us thinking: What do you think of that? Do you sometimes (always?!?) hide your true self? What masks do you wear? How does being in church affect those masks? …
Big thanks to all who attended our anti-trafficking event this week! If you were there, I'd love to hear from you: What did you think of the film? What did you learn from the guest speaker? What questions were left unanswered? Share your thoughts in the comments! The event is over, but of course the …
"I’m not seeing a lot of cases where there’s not coercion,” she added. “The average age where a girl is forced into prostitution is 12 to 14. And most of these 16- or 17 year-olds are being run by pretty vicious pimps." National Human Trafficking Prevention Month is winding down, but the actual work of …
I always feel inadequate when it comes to posting my sermons. Most all the blogging pastors I know are great at posting brilliant manuscripts, and most of them manage to do so by early Sunday morning. Meanwhile, I usually don't have a manuscript. But that's ok because I think sermons are auditory (and visual) events …
Continue reading Jonah, Jesus & Us: Jan. 22 sermon “Changing Speech, Speaking Change”
This Sunday night is the first trial run for a new alternative worship gathering at my church. I'm definitely experiencing that typical emotional cocktail of excitement (We're doing something new! An idea of mine that others have helped birth!) and nervousness (What if no one attends? What if we suck? What if we think it's …
I was interviewed recently for an article in Interpreter Magazine, a product of the United Methodist Church. It's the cover article for Sept/Oct and the online version just dropped. Woodridge UMC is one of three churches discussed in the article who are opening their doors to Muslim groups, including for them to worship. Here's a …
As Bread for the World reminds us, Globally, almost 16,000 children die each day from hunger related causes. That's one child every five seconds. This week 8 Woodridge United Methodist Church college students and 3 leaders (including my wife and me) served at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora. For many of these students, it …
I never quite know how to encapsulate all that happens on one of our mission trips. There is just so much that happens: tine in the vehicles there and back, staying at churches on the road there and back, inside jokes, inside disputes, conversations that cannot be reconstructed let alone shared, insights shared in confidence, …
Continue reading Mingo County mission trip: reflecting back, looking forward
A few weeks ago I wrote about the new UMC resource, Ministry With* the Poor I hope you’ve checked that out by now and at least watched the introductory video. If not, I encourage you to do so now. One of the fascinating things about Ministry With* the Poor is the collaborative effort bringing it …
Continue reading Guest blogger: Pastor Jim responds to Ministry With
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 