Matthew Raley, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church in Chico, Calif., is tackling tough questions in the pulpit. He recently described it for the online version of the Chico Enterprise-Record. A portion of the story appears below. Click here for the complete article.
Pastor Talk: Tough questions at Chico Grace Brethren
Our nation seems more divided than ever on moral and spiritual issues. The different tribes watch comfortable cable channels, subscribe to congenial blogs, or lob incendiary posts at other tribes on social media. Each group is trying to control the script — evangelicals included.
There are fewer places where the tribes even live side by side. A New Yorker might read “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” while flying over the actual state at 30,000 feet. Here in Northern California, it easier for an evangelical to see a video of a scientist on YouTube than to talk with one face-to-face.
But Chico and the ridge have all the tribes. We are not isolated from people who think differently. They’re next door. So, at Chico Grace Brethren, we decided to start a dialogue.
Over the summer we said to friends and neighbors, “If you could ask a pastor to speak on any question, what would it be?” We found that the conversations lowered barriers. We also thought the questions we received were terrific. I choose six of them to address in a short series that starts this Sunday.
The series is called, “Tough Questions,” and the title fits.
Click here for the complete article.