Dear Partner in Preaching, November is a hard month to preach. Part of that is where we are in the cycle of the church calendar, as November draws us toward Christ the King and the lectionary readings anticipate Christ’s second advent even as we prepare to celebrate his first advent at Christmas. And the other part is Matthew, who offers more warnings about hellfire and gnashing teeth than the rest of the evangelists combined. And so this Sunday and those that follow will treat us to exhortations to wait, to make the most of our gifts, and to do good…or else. And while all these parables present their own distinct challenges, I have to...

My heart is breaking, as I know yours is, for all those affected by the shootings in Connecticut. It’s hard for us to contemplate the horror, grief, and loss of the families of those poor children, teachers and staff. It’s even harder for us to understand the madness that could motivate someone to such a heinous act. Contemplating any of this, let alone all of it, is nearly overwhelming. All we can do is hold them in prayer, surround them with love, and when the time comes ask hard questions about the elements of our culture and policies that contribute to such atrocities. Before these awful events, I had been thinking about using an...