On this day forty-five years ago, September 21, 1975, I was ordained into the Christian Ministry of Word and Sacrament at the Newton Highlands Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts. I was 26. Continue reading
In the Beginning: 2009-2010
I’d like to thank all of you who have dropped by this blog over the years. It is hard for me to believe a decade has passed since I began it. I started to write again as a personal act of healing which in time morphed into a new chapter of my ministry. Continue reading
Once again as the old year passes and the new year beckons, it is my custom to look back at my most popular posts of the year. Some years a theme emerges, and this year it is the passing of old friends and mentors. Three of my professors from seminary died within a few weeks of each other early in the year, and my tributes to and remembrances of them were among the most popular posts.
Here in order are the most visited new posts from 2016:
A Prayer for Christmas (and for our time) from Karl Barth
A Tribute to Meredith Brook “Jerry” Handspicker 1932-2016
“Of Fig Trees and Second Chances” A Sermon on Luke 13:6-9
Remembering William L. Holladay
Let us not treat this wound too lightly. Reconciliation requires repentance
Mike Maguire and Me: Recollections from Long Ago
“Rich in Things and Poor in Soul” A Sermon on Luke 12:13-21
A tribute to Max L. Stackhouse
“Holy Weeping’ A Sermon on Romans 12:19 and Revelation 21:1-4
“Known knowns, known unknowns,” and the New Testament
As in previous years certain posts have had real staying power. Many of these are sermons that desperate preachers found on search engines. For example, my sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent was the number one entry if you Googled “Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent.” Consequently, I saw extraordinary spikes in traffic the week before.
So here are my all-time top ten posts since I started “When I Survey . . .” in 2009:
Why did Jesus refer to Herod as “That fox” in Luke 13:32”?
“Rejoice! Rejoice!” A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent
God Gives the Growth,” A Retirement Sermon
“The Lord Will Provide:” A Sermon on Genesis 22
“There is nothing to be afraid of!” A Sermon on Psalm 27:1-2
An Ordination Sermon: The Secret Sauce of Ministry. A Recipe in Two Parts
“God With Us” A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
“Behind Locked Doors” A Sermon on John 20:24
“The Message of the Cross” A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:23-25
Another milestone for this blog is that it reached 100 followers this year. So I thank you all for your interest and support. Come back and visit now and again in 2017.
(We had a beautiful and moving Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving for the life of Jerry Handspicker this afternoon at the Second Congregational Church, UCC, of Bennington, Vermont. The Pastor, the Reverend Mary H. Lee-Clark, presided and delivered a fine homily. Jerry was Professor of Practical Theology at Andover Newton Theological School for 36 years, my former teacher, colleague and a family friend. I was asked to give one of the remembrances. Here are my remarks:)
I’m Rick Floyd. Jerry was my teacher, my colleague and my friend. I knew Jerry for 45 years through many ups and downs and changing experiences of life.
I met him when I arrived at Andover Newton in 1971. That very first week I applied for a field education position, running a coffee house (that dates me!), at the Newton Highlands Congregational Church. There were two token youths on the search committee, Amy Handspicker and her best-friend Martha Talis. By Amy’s telling they judged I was hip enough for the job, and convinced the skeptical grown-ups that I was their man.
Thus began a long association with that congregation, where Jerry was the associate pastor, and with the Handspicker family. Jerry and Dee embodied what today we would call “radical hospitality,” and I had many a dinner with them and Amy, Jed and Nathan. I once briefly lived in their attic! (And I wasn’t the only one.) Continue reading
When I Survey . . . 