Hyde Park Speaks

November 16, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Over the past three Wednesday nights, I have had the fun of teaching a class on the Enneagram, a personality type indicator that guides self-discovery, offers awareness of one’s strengths and shadows, and enhances relationships...

November 9, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Years ago, Grace asked me to describe my happiest memories. I told her about the time she and her sister were born, about the day I married their mother, and about the night I was ordained a minister. She agreed that those were...

November 2, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, This Sunday will be an especially poignant All Saints’ worship service for me. Over the past year, several influential people in my life have died, people who were formative to my Christian journey and my ministerial calling....

October 19, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Near the start of my ministry 25 years ago, I attended a clergy gathering at the Life Enrichment Center in Leesburg, Florida. The featured speaker was Dr. Paul Chilcote, a professor of Wesley Studies. In that lecture, he spoke...

October 5th, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, How noisy is your life?  Bernie Krause is a noted “soundscape artist,” producing albums of sounds found in nature. He has said that in 1968, in order to get one hour of natural sound - no cars, planes, or machines of any kind -...

September 28, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, But let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24) Years ago, I had a seminary instructor say that no prospective minister should graduate from seminary without being able to fully...

September 21, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, Today is the feast day of St. Matthew, the person traditionally credited as the author of the first gospel. Born into the Hebrew tribe of Levi, Matthew was a tax collector who met Jesus, became his disciple, and wrote an...

September 14, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, In case you missed worship last Sunday, we introduced our current fall series “Good and Faithful: Life Well Done.” It is a series that explores Christian character, based on a book by Dr. David Gushee titled: Introducing...

September 7, 2023 Dear Hyde Park Family, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts." (Shakespeare’s As You Like It) One of the most joyful parts of living in...