I have printed a “Sunday Letter” to share with my congregations (each week) for about 30 years. The early letters were written on a Sunday morning and printed off on a copy machine…in time to hand out when people arrived at church. Today it is all through the internet, sent free to those who sign up.
April 23, 2023 (No letter, on the road)
April 16, 2023 Take Me Out to the Ballgame
April 9, 2023 A Different Kind of Easter
April 2, 2023 Bucking the System
March 26, 2023 Too Many Darned Preachers
March 19, 2023 That’s Your Bucket List? Really?
March 12, 2023 (No letter, visiting grandchildren for the weekend)
March 5, 2023 Revivals 101
February 26, 2023 Checking the Maps
February 19, 2023 The Time I Saw Jimmy Carter
February 12, 2023 Rattlesnakes and Covid
February 5, 2023 (No letter, vacation in Tucson, Arizona)
January 29, 2023 How to Flirt, or Not
January 22, 2023 Rabbits
January 15, 2023 (No letter, out of town preaching, Richview/Gilead)
January 8, 2023 (No letter, visiting grandchildren)
January 1, 2023 All My Love to You, from 2022
December 25, 2022 Bethlehem at Night
December 18, 2022 Important Stuff the Fake News Won’t Tell You
December 11, 2022 All My Christmas Wisdom, In Seven Paragraphs
December 4, 2022 Must-Go Places, Must-Have Things
November 27, 2022 My Secret for Losing Four Pounds
November 20, 2022 My Irreverent, Sincere Thanksgiving Prayer
November 13, 2022 …and All Who Are in Authority
November 6, 2022 Meeting Maeve
October 30, 2022 Politics: I Love Thee, I Love Thee Not
October 23, 2022 The Best Century to Get Sick
October 16, 2022 Surprise at the Millard Fillmore House
October 9, 2022 Best and Worst of My Vacation
September 4, 2022 Brief Notes Before My Vacation
August 28, 2022 Weddings Aren’t What They Used to Be
August 21, 2022 Writer’s Prayer of Confession
August 14, 2022 High School Reunion (Part 2)
August 7, 2022 High School Reunion (Part 1)
July 31, 2022 It Keeps Rising from the Dead
July 24, 2022 Biography of Earl-the-Cat
July 17, 2022 How to Have a Great Birthday
July 10, 2022 Somebody Has to Play God
July 3, 2022 Down and Dirty with July 4
June 26, 2022 Retirement Number Three
June 19, 2022 Never Wanted to Be a Preacher’s Wife
June 12, 2022 A Gaggle of Preachers
June 5, 2022 Chicken Kitchen Trouble
May 29, 2022 No letter, holiday with family
May 22, 2022 Chaos in the Kitchen
May 15, 2022 A Ride with Farmer Tom
May 8, 2022 “Proverbs Woman” vs. My Mom
May 1, 2022 Country Mouse, City Mouse
April 24, 2022 She Never Stopped Talking
April 17, 2022 Easter, too tired to write a letter
April 10, 2022 A Day with Isobel
April 3, 2022 How to Worry
March 27, 2022 I Beg Your Pardon
March 20, 2022 No Letter, visiting grandchildren
March 13, 2022 Driving in Florida
February 20–March 6, 2022 No letter, vacation
February 13, 2022 Haven’t Changed Much Since the Second Grade
February 6, 2022 Animal Races, Dwarves, and Bishops
January 30, 2022 Tigers Everywhere
January 23, 2022 The Time They Set My Church on Fire
January 16, 2022 This News Just In!!!
January 9, 2022 Who Left the Excedrin on My Desk?
January 2, 2022 Years in Review (2020-2021)
December 26, 2021 Why Does It Say SOB on my Medical Chart?
December 19, 2021 No post, family Christmas gathering that weekend
December 12, 2021 Living in a Bubble
December 5, 2021 No Post (flu)
November 28, 2021 My Turkey Started a Fire in My Oven
November 21, 2021 Whose Turn to Pray?
November 14, 2021 To Quit…or Not to Quit
November 7, 2021 My Small Farm
October 31, 2021 Killing My Newspaper
October 24, 2021 No Post (vacation)
October 17, 2021 Stop Preaching
October 10, 2021: A 28-Year Old Advises Me About Retirement
October 3, 2021: Why Things Didn’t Work Out for Me in Belle Fourche
September 26, 2021: The Sweetheart
September 19, 2021: The Dreamer
September 12, 2021: From Strength to Strength
September 5, 2021: Son of a Rogue
May 16–August 31: no letters, Sabbatical
May 9, 2021: A Story with No Women
May 2, 2021: Messing with Texas
April 25, 2021 (no letter)
April 18, 2021: Preacher Socks
April 11, 2021: Year of Disembodied Relationships
April 4, 2021 (no letter)
March 28, 2021: Send the Pastor Home
March 21, 2021: I Used to be a Pesky Child
March 14, 2021: It All Started with Bozo
March 7, 2021: How to Be a Manly Man
February 28, 2021: If A President Comes to Dinner
February 21, 2021: Presidential Perks
February 14, 2021: Truthiness
January 10-31, 2021 (sick, no letter)
January 3, 2021: Year in Review
(September 17–February 7, 2021)
June 13–September 1 (no letter)
June 7, 2020: Permit Me to Rile You Up
May 31, 2020: The Bishop, the President, and the Proctologist
May 24, 2020: Memorial Day Stories
May 17, 2020: Getting Rid of Our Clothes
May 10, 2020: My Mom
May 3, 2020: Getting Ready for World Donkey Day
April 26, 2020: The World’s Worst Game
April 19, 2020: Pride from One to Ninety-One
April 12, 2020: Post-Easter Preacher Brain
April 5, 2020: The Oddest Thing on My Road to Retirement
March 29, 2020: Something Other than Virus Stuff
March 22, 2020: Sometimes It’s Easy, Sometimes It’s Not
March 15, 2020: My Inflexible Piety, Stubborn Pride
March 13: 2020: Special Pastoral: Protocol for Coronavirus
March 8, 2020: It Used to Be Really Great
March 1, 2020: Old Fashioned Church Politics
February 23, 2020: The Apostle Paul on an Internet Date
February 16, 2020: Fixen to Buy a House
February 9, 2020: Blessed Are the Troublemakers
February 2, 2020: Theology of the Wienermobile
January 26, 2020: Year of the Rat
January 19, 2020: The Pope Slaps a Troublemaker…Hmm
January 5, 12, 2020: No Letters
December 29, 2019: Year in Review
December 22, 2019: no letter (flu season)
December 15, 2019: They’re Laughing at Me
December 8, 2019: For Everything There is a Season: Retirement
December 1, 2019: Name Them One by One
November 24, 2019: The Good Old Days
November 17, 2019: Getting Along Better with Hillbillies
November 10, 2019: And Am I Still Alive?
November 3, 2019: I Thought My Wife Was Trying to Kill Me
October 27, 2019: Okay…Now I’m Really Mad
October 20, 2019: Can You Wear Your Playboy Jacket in Church?
October 13, 2019: Pickles and Peppers
October 6: 2019: If You’re Happy and You Know It
September 29, 2019: How I Got to Be a Pastor
September 22, 2019: Eating Out: the Old Fashioned Way
September 15, 2019: The Preacher and the Plumber
September 8, 2019: A Baby, A Grandpa, and a Baptism
September 1, 2019: no letter, traveling in Madison, Wisconsin
August 25, 2019: no letter, traveling in Yellowstone National Park
August 18, 2019: Looks Like No Room at the Inn
August 11, 2019: I Never Knew That About My Parents
August 4, 2019: The Story of Two-Face
July 28, 2019: Weird Pastors
July 21, 2019: Too Many Stupid Conversations About Race
July 14, 2019: How Wise I Am
July 7, 2019: Hello Again
May 19 through June 30, 2019: no letters, health sabbatical
May 12, 2019: Front Porch Mother’s Day
April 28 & May 5, 2019: no letters, health sabbatical
April 21, 2019: Hams and Lilies
April 14, 2019: The Titanic and This Year’s Confirmation Class
April 7, 2019: Keeping My Hands to Myself
March 31, 2019: My Dad’s Stroke Yesterday
March 24, 2019: Southern Stories…and Dangers
March 17, 2019: Birth…and a Brush with Death
March 10, 2019: Month of March: Just Like the Book of Revelation
March 3, 2019: Who is Your Favorite Psychopath?
February 26, 2019: Special Report: What Next? (A Tuesday Extra Letter)
February 24, 2019: Can You Get Kicked Out of the Church?
February 17, 2019: Oil Leaks
February 10, 2019: Long Live the Pig
February 3, 2019: One Tough Baby
January 27, 2019: Getting Through to Earl-the-Cat
January 20, 2019: Snow Days
January 13: Alligators in the Congregation
January 6, 2019: no letter, on vacation
December 30: Salute to 2018
December 23: Prayers for Peace
December 16: Scrooge Christmas Lists
December 9, 2018: Judging a Book by Its Cover
December 2, 2018: Your 13 Secrets
November 25, 2018: Scrutinizing My Friends
November 18, 2018: Whimsical, But Sincere Prayer of Thanksgiving
November 11, 2018: Loser, Loser
November 4, 2018: Happy Days Are Here Again
October 28, 2018: The Devil in the Mailbox
October 21, 2018: Bad Story…Good Story
October 14, 2018: The Anecdote
October 7, 2018: Trouble Ahead This Tuesday
September 30, 2018: Birth and Death and Anniversaries
September 23, 2018: Going Batty
September 16, 2018: What Birth Reveals
September 9, 2018: No letter due to gag order on baby news
September 2, 2018: No letter, hand injury due to fight with bat
August 26, 2018: A Public Enemy
August 19, 2018: Modern Music
August 12, 2018: Beans, Please
August 5, 2018: English: Butchering the Rules
July 29, 2018: Let Us Celebrate with Bagels and Duct Tape and Mules
July 22, 2018: A Crop of New Preachers
July 15, 2018: When the Math Doesn’t Add Up
July 8, 2018: A Conversation with Mother Goose
July 1, 2018: Musings About My Country
June 24, 2018: The Strenuous Life
June 17, 2018: Ten Things About My Dad
June 10, 2018: The Least Visited State in the Country
May 27, June 3, 2018: no letters, vacation Sundays
May 20, 2018: Hard to Start
May 13, 2018: Moms in the Olden Days
May 6, 2018: Second Grandchild
April 29, 2018: Nostalgia
April 22, 2018: Ode From an Earthling
April 15, 2018: Taxes Again
April 8, 2018: Books and Books and Books
April 1, 2018: Reruns and Easter
March 25, 2018: I Need to Find Out Their Names
March 18, 2018: Secrets from the Bedroom Closet
March 11, 2018: Circling Around to Coffee
March 4, 2018: A Different Kind of Holy Land Trip
February 18 and 25: No letters, traveling in Israel
February 11, 2018: Best After School Job in the Country
February 4, 2018: Did Noah Take Deodorant on the Ark?
January 28, 2018: Gin and Prune Juice
January 21, 2018: First Impressions
January 14, 2018: Keeping Up to Date
January 7, 2018: New Orleans Diary
December 31, 2017: Farewell to 2017
December 25, 2017: Recovery
November 12–December 17, 2017: No letter (due to hand surgery)
November 5, 2017: Retirement Assumptions
October 29, 2017: The Time I Got Chased Around the Sanctuary
October 22, 2017: Daisy Petals: They Love Me…They Don’t…
October 15, 2017: People Who Save Me from Myself
October 8, 2017: Tired of Being Good
October 1, 2017: Where Did Everything Go?
September 24, 2017: Shots at the High School
September 17, 2017: My Dangerous Job
September 10, 2017: Keeping Up with Political Correctness
September 3, 2017: National Courtesy Month
August 27, 2017: If You Don’t Go to Their Funeral
August 20, 2017: Eclipse
August 13, 2017: State Fairs
August 6, 2017: Church League Softball
July 31, 2017: Eulogies for the Living
July 23, 2017: Fresh New Pastors on the Way
July 16, 2017: My Brother’s Keeper
July 9, 2017: Summer Favorites
July 2, 2017: Heartbroken…and Then What?
June 25, 2017: Things the Old Cars Didn’t Do
June 18, 2017: TV Dads vs. Real Dads
June 11, 2017: A Methodist Business Trip
June 4, 2017: Grading the Presidents
May 14, 21, 28: No letters
May 7, 2017: Writers in the Family
April 30, 2017: All the Rain
April 23, 2017: The Other Marathon
April 16, 2017: We’re Having Company
April 9, 2017: What Color is Your Personality
April 2, 2017: The Birthday Cat
March 26, 2017: Grandma’s Cooking Lessons
March 19, 2017: Let Me Apologize for My Apology
March 12, 2017: Two Birds in the Bush Are Better Than One in My Hand
March 5, 2017: Mattress Stories
February 26, 2017: Allergies: Fighting a Faux Foe
February 19, 2017: Laughing Like an Ape
February 12, 2017: Hawaii Diary
February 5, 2017: no letter
January 29, 2017: Bucket List Update
January 22, 2017: New Guy Takes Over
January 15, 2017: Still Interpreting Dreams
January 8, 2017: Teaching the Preacher to Cuss
January 1, 2017: Farewell to 2016
December 25, 2016: Once Again the Plans Don’t Work
December 18, 2016: Ways to be Santa Claus
December 11, 2016: Parsonages, Houses, and Homes
December 4, 2016: What the Nose Knows
November 27, 2016: Midlife Crisis?
November 20, 2016: Boring People Never Blunder
November 13, 2016: Last Man Standing: Trump
November 6, 2016: Elwood
October 30, 2016: Baloney Sandwich
October 23, 2016: (no letter)
October 16, 2016: Ashamed
October 9, 2016: Methodist Monk at a Woman’s Monastery
October 2, 2016: Forty-Four
September 25, 2016: I’m Reaching My Peak
September 18, 2016: Men vs. Women
September 11 2016: The Dog Sent From God???
September 4, 2016: A Penny For Your Thoughts
August 28, 2016: Just Sitting Around
August 21, 2016: What I Did Instead of Becoming an Olympian
August 14, 2016: State Fair
August 7, 2016: Mommy, Where Do Pastors Come From?
July 31, 2016: There’s a WHAT in Your Parsonage (the Rat)
July 24, 2016: Why Married People Are Looney
July 17, 2016: You Learn a Lot About a Guy from His Stuff
July 10, 2016: Moving: Goodbye Home
July 3, 2016: Beginning of a Pastorate: A Time for Ignorance
June 26, 2016: End of a Pastorate: Promises, Promises
June 19, 2016: To My Dad…and His Animals
June 12, 2016: Watching My Daughter Join the Country
June 5, 2016: Tribute to My Car (reprint from July 1996)
May 29, 2016: When Generations Mix, Mix-ups Occur (reprint from May 2013)
May 22, 2016: Is There a Grandparent in the House?
May 15, 2016: Shocked by the Chinese
May 8, 2016: History of Our Mothers
May 1, 2016: Taking Our Stories to the Next Chapter
April 24, 2016: Is There Anything New Under the Sun?
April 17, 2016: Fretting About My New Neighbors
April 10, 2016: My New Chums
April 3, 2016: Time to Play
March 27, 2016: Did You Hear the Latest News?
March 13, 2016: Letting My Brain Roam
March 6, 2016: When the Road Puts You to Sleep
February 28, 2016: When the Going Gets Tough
February 21, 2016: Everything I Know About First Aid
February 14, 2016: Keeping Your Nose Clean
February 7, 2016: Rules for Camping
January 31, 2016: Let Me in This Fight
January 24, 2016: It Once Was Lost, But Now Is Found
January 17, 2016: Are You a Boring Person?
January 10, 2016: Fortune Cookies and New Year Resolutions
January 3, 2016 (no letter)
Repertoire 