Rev. Ethan Brown, Pastor and Minister of Care & Discipleship

Wolves, it seems, can shape the land around them, even determining the course of rivers in their territory. If you are curious about the details you can find a National Geographic video that outlines everything, but essentially it all comes down to the interaction of the wolves with deer. Wolves died out of Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s due to over-hunting, but a small number of them were reintroduced in 1995. In the intervening years, the deer and elk populations had exploded. The...

Easter Sunday morning, 45 of us gathered in the cool morning air of the amphitheater to greet the dawn and remember that Jesus is alive. As we worshipped, the world awoke around us. The fragile glow of the sun strengthened into true morning light and the woods became alive with the sound of birds. Dozens of different calls joined our own to confess the life and new creation of God pulsing all around and within us. Thinking back, I have no idea what birds were present. They were mostly hidden...

Tuesday, March 31, was a high and holy day at Highland Hills. The sacred nature of this particular Tuesday had nothing to do with its participation in Holy Week festivities, though if you celebrated the withered fig tree of Mark 11, I’ll give you a gold star for the day. No, the celebratory air wafting across the church grounds had no other cause than that it was a 5th Tuesday (not 3rd, nor 2nd, and certainly not 6th). 5th Tuesdays are important. They occur rarely across the calendar and on...