Texas will be dealing with the rest of the crisis from Hurricane Harvey this week, and then begin the efforts of recovery. How do we respond? In 2005 Hurricane Katrina decimated not just New Orleans, but much of the Gulf Coast, including Gulfport, Mobile, Biloxi, and beyond. Kim Lawton, in a PBS special report on…
Father Dale Hall began ministry in 1987 at Calvary Baptist Church, in Rome, Georgia, while in college. He’s been a social worker and crisis counselor, as well as a Vineyard pastor. He’s now an Anglican priest serving at The Mission in Chattanooga, where he serves as the vicar and lead pastor of The Street Chapel, which serves the local homeless community. He also serves The Mission as director of clergy credentialing and Dean of Spiritual Formation at the Mission School of Ministry. He lives in Chattanooga with his wife Kimberly. They have two sons and a daughter-in-law.
When Our House Of Cards Falls
“Knock and it shall be opened.’ But does knocking mean hammering and kicking the door like a maniac?” ― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed Ever feel this way? Certain situations come up in life where we are overwhelmed and full of anxiety, feeling all alone, at a total loss of what to do, and we…
Beautiful and Terrible Things: Pain and Suffering in the Life of a Disciple
Pain, suffering, and disappointment are not often explored even lightly in the American church. In a previous article I began to explore practical care and understanding, but, like a diamond, this topic is worth a second or third look. When others are suffering, we feel awkward and insufficient, so we uncomfortably acknowledge it when we…
The World As It Is – Not As I Would Have It.
One question that comes up very often in pastoral care is “Why?” More specifically: Why does God let me languish in a job I hate? Why do I pray and nothing seems to happen? Why did this dear person die? Why did that bad thing happen? Sometimes even our best “theological” answers still fail to…
Like A Rented Mule
Saint Ignatius: priest, theologian, and founder of the Jesuit order passionately worked for God, saying: Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest… – Saint Ignatius, 1500s…
Measuring A Rule Of Life
At The Mission School of Ministry, I have been guiding a group of students through the process of developing their own rule of life. We began with a survey of Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, exploring the classical spiritual disciplines of the faith. Then we read up on The Rule of Saint Benedict (RB), and…
Fixed Hour Prayer
“So, how’s your prayer life going?” As a priest, as I meet with people to provide pastoral care, or spiritual formation, one question often comes up in the conversation: “So, how is your prayer life going?” Having asked this question to people for over 17 years now, I already know what the answer will likely…
Angel Food At The Monastery
This past week I would say that my life has been anything but simple. There are reasons why many of us can’t sleep at night, why we can’t relax, or let go. So much of it boils down to time and money. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Americans work longer hours, averaging…
The Church And The Holy Spirit – A Very Brief History
Empowering The Church Recently, I was at a clergy retreat where Bishop Bill Murdoch taught and encouraged the clergy of the Anglican Diocese of the South to operate with expectation of the leading and moving of the Holy Spirit today. In the first century Paul explained to the church how the Spirit works through believers…
Leading In Difficult Times According To St. Francis
These are difficult days that we lead the church in, at least in some ways. There are moments I tell my wife that I would have never chosen to be a minister at this particular time and place, a time of social upheaval and changing values, a time when the church seems to be in…
