Articles written by David Parks
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Shaped by privilege | Worship
I am biased. I admit it. Every day there are things that I do, things that I say, and things that I think all come from a prejudice that has developed in me over the years. It’s... — Updated 10/19/2022
The kids are in trouble | Worship
Kids are in trouble. They feel more isolated, forgotten, and detached than ever before. The pandemic has made their lives difficult, but the crisis started long before that. In... — Updated 8/3/2022
Ash Wednesday memories | Worship
"You keep those damn ashes away from me, Pastor!" Elsie was angry. Angry at me. Angry at the cancer eating away at her body. Angry at herself and likely angry at God. I had come to... — Updated 3/2/2022
People of Faith in Times of Plague | Worship
They called it the "Black Death." It was the Bubonic Plague and it swept through Europe in the first decades of the 16th century. Earlier variants of the same disease killed... — Updated 10/20/2021
Congregations should speak out during Pride Month | Worship
June is Pride Month. It is an opportunity for communities of faith to be public and explicit in their affirmation and advocacy for LGBTQ+ people. When congregations don't announce... — Updated 6/9/2021
Christianity has been hijacked | Worship
News coverage of the riotous insurrection in our nation's capital on Jan. 6 included video of the disturbing scene. There were confederate flags, Q-Anon banners, Viking helmets and... — Updated 3/3/2021
Christmas past and present | Worship
He dubbed himself, “great.” He was feckless, narcissistic, self-aggrandizing, and desperately afraid of being seen as a loser. When they told him that another king was about to... — Updated 12/23/2020
Evangelical Lutheran Church : The Whitest denomination | Worship
It’s true. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the least racially diverse in the United States. I am humbled and troubled by that. Lenny Duncan has written, “Dear... — Updated 10/14/2020
Bibles, kids, and the earth l Worship
Millions watched as a 16-year-old from Sweden, Greta Thunberg, addressed the 2019 UN Climate Change Summit in New York. She was urgent. She was blunt. “This is all wrong,” she... — Updated 10/2/2019
Forgiveness and clergy sexual abuse l Worship
Last week, the Houston Chronicle reported hundreds of cases of sexual misconduct among pastors and leaders in Southern Baptist Churches. They describe misconduct in the last 20 years that ranges from possession of child... — Updated 2/20/2019 Full story
When clergy behave badly l Worship
Earlier this week, I sat with other members of my family in a hospital waiting room. We were waiting for news from the doctors about my 84-year-old father’s heart surgery. It was a busy place with paper coffee cups, Christmas... — Updated 1/2/2019
Learning from our youngers l Worship
The latest census projections for our county predict a significant increase in the number of people 18 and under living in, and going to, school in our community. According to the bureau, in 2016 there were about 182,000 of them.... — Updated 2/28/2018
Christmas then, Christmas now l Worship
The ancient Biblical narratives depicting angelic visitations, shepherds with flocks by night and the adoring Magi from the east all seem quite familiar to many of us. These time-tested story elements cling to the lines of... — Updated 12/27/2017
500 years later, Luther’s legacy offers tricky lessons | Worship
It’s a tricky thing to be Lutheran as the world celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. You may remember that in the last days of October 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses onto the church door in Wittenberg,... — Updated 10/4/2017 Full story
Let’s pray for then vote for inclusive, tolerant candidates | Worship
Election season has arrived in our community. The yard signs touting candidates and initiatives crowd the street corners and vacant lots. Some have bright colors; some have endorsements. Some are names we recognize; some are... — Updated 7/19/2017
No Room in the Inn
The first pages of the New Testament provide a compelling narrative of the earliest episodes in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Matthew’s gospel paints a vivid picture of the perils of life in first century Palestine. It was not a... — Updated 12/21/2016
Saying goodbye to Trinity Lutheran College | Worship
It was the toughest decision of my life. More than a dozen members of Trinity Lutheran College board sat around a conference table in the library on the fifth floor of the... — Updated 9/21/2016 Full story
Lutheran church opens doors to Latino followers | Worship
“Hola, la paz de Cristo,” may not be the first thing you would typically hear in a Lutheran church, but it is shared from the heart by the new pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in... — Updated 7/13/2016 Full story
Life comes wrapped in package labeled ‘perishable’ | Worship
I’ll turn 60 on my next birthday. I’m not sure how I feel about that. It seems like a big deal a bit like coming around third base, headed to home plate. My body reminds me often that I’m approaching another decade.... — Updated 2/17/2016
The late service on Christmas Eve | Worship
Some have tears in their eyes, some look as if they are asleep on their feet. Some are wrestling with young children, and some are bent over with hands locked in a white-knuckle grip on the pew in front of them. Aging hips make it... — Updated 12/23/2015 Full story
This bibliophile’s relationship with the Bible | Worship
On most days I rise early, make some coffee, check emails and look for a weather report. After that, I open my Bible and attempt a conversation with God. Sometimes it’s a glorious experience. I read lines from the Psalms that rem... — Updated 7/15/2015
Letters from prison | Worship
I cringed a little bit when I discovered the envelope in my mail in-box in the office. It was from the State Corrections Center in Shelton, Wash. I had heard from inmates in prison before. I had visited those convicted of serious c... — Updated 2/18/2015
The Beacon made a mistake | Worship
The Beacon made a mistake. It was not a big mistake or a serious mistake, but it did cause some confusion. Last month, they published a worship column written by The Church of... — Updated 12/10/2014
Re-examining the spiritual trauma of suicide | Worship
In the last 25 years of ministry, there were several times when I presided at the funerals of people who had committed suicide. Those times have been among the most difficult and painful experiences of my life. My heart breaks for... — Updated 9/23/2014
Some things I used to believe | Worship
I had a seminary professor who used to say that the human problem is the inexhaustible capacity to draw imaginary lines between good and evil and then put ourselves on the good side. I always wanted to be the one on the good... — Updated 7/9/2014
