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

Growing up my family's primary vacation each year was a week of tent camping in the Tallulah River Gorge region of North Georgia. My mom agreed to camping as long as my dad did all the cooking. So we would load our tent and sleeping bags, a cooler for food for the week, clothes, fishing poles, and chairs for around the campfire. With my parents, two sisters, myself, and the dog, our minivan was always full to the brim. Thankfully my dad was a master car packer. Every bit of space was...

I have a Mosasaurus in my office.  In case you don’t know, a Mosasaurus is a large aquatic reptile.  Imagine, if you will, a 30 foot monitor lizard with flippers instead of legs and you will be pretty close.  Now mine is not that large, only a few inches across at most.  Its coloring seems off to me - though really who can say what an extinct dinosaur should look like - with a mottled mixture of blues both light and dark across its body and perhaps a yellow patina of mud across its back.  Yet...

The Christmas Eve service holds a special place in my heart. Growing up, it was the final barrier to the official beginning of Christmas. After the Christmas Eve service we would open presents with my grandparents, drive slowly through the chaotic and crammed yard of Christmas lights at the Gady’s house, and then head home to furiously wrap the presents bought at the very last minute. With all that came immediately afterwards, the Christmas Eve service was a landmark in the Advent season...