August 2026 – Wicomico Presbyterian Church

Finding the Right Key

Matthew 16:13-20 A pastor named Ryan Burge has been making a name for himself – although not for pastoral work. Ryan left his full-time ministry in the American Baptist Church some years ago and now works in academia as a demographer. He studies and writes about the numbers. And the numbers tell Ryan that the middle is falling out of the church. His research finds that the church is becoming increasingly polarized – which is not surprising, because our society is growing increasingly polarized. But one thing I found interesting: Ryan attributes this change in the church to the decline in the mainline denominations, including the PC(USA). Membership in our denomination – along with others like the United Methodist, the Episcopalian, the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutherans, and the American Baptists – has been declining for many years now. These churches were at one time the backbone of […]

Redeeming Time

Genesis 45:1-15 Some years ago When I was a campus minister, I knew a student named Megan – a very dear young woman. She had many beautiful qualities, but one that really endeared her to me was this ability Meagan had to find the silver lining in everything. Megan could find something hopeful in every disappointment, and she would always say: “In a way, I’m glad this happened,” and then she would tell me how she had found some new opportunity in the setback. Megan had a talent for reframing her disappointments. Megan had her share of disappointments, thankfully all of them the non-life-threatening kind. I don’t know how she would have handled a real crisis, the kind of thing Joseph was thrown into again and again and again. I hope she never has to. So much has happened to Joseph since he was trotted off to Egypt with the […]

Dreams that Disturb

Genesis 37:1-28 When we reach the story of Joseph, we know we are near the end of this Genesis narrative. Let’s consider for a moment where it has taken us. From the beginning, when God created the world as we know it, to the calling of a man and his family, to the formation of a people, Israel, and now to the shaping of a state. It is not the state of Israel, of course – Joseph’s story takes us to Egypt. But it is the first story about living in a large society, about a nation with power to govern and organize and care for a people. The story of Joseph is really much more than a story about one individual. Sunday school lessons love Joseph and his coat, which may or may not have been colorful. There are actually more ways of translating the description of Joseph’s coat […]

Eating with Jesus

Matthew 14:13-21 Every Sunday morning we take a bit of the scriptures to read and proclaim for the day. And so often it is the case that the passage begins with words that will pique our curiosity, as they do today. “Now when Jesus heard this…” And you wonder: What did Jesus hear? Why did he withdraw from everyone? What happened that he felt the need to be alone? What he heard was that his friend John had been executed by Herod. John the Baptizer – his cousin, according to Luke; the one who had prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry, baptizing and proclaiming that one greater than he was coming; John, the one who baptized Jesus. He had been arrested by Herod because Herod did not like what John was saying, nor did Herod’s wife. John was a prophet and he often said things that were offensive. The truth […]