Last month I volunteered at a “Galentine’s” party held at one of the women’s detention centers on Rikers Island. I was there with staff from the Osborne Association, one of my church’s partners in mission serving families affected by the criminal justice system. Through Osborne, I provide pastoral care as an interfaith chaplain to people incarcerated at Rikers. For the party, however, I was tasked with moving chairs, blowing up heart-shaped balloons, and giving out art suppli

Last week my prayer ministry took me from Madison Avenue to GB Road, the “red light district” of New Delhi. It’s the most dangerous part of the city, a hotbed of organized crime, and home to around 100 brothels. I was with five other women, headed to a village near the Bay of Bengal on a Christian mission trip. Since we had to fly into Delhi, a friend of mine hooked us up with a pastor named Brother Vijay who ministers to prostituted women. Vijay picked us up at our hotel, an

Sometimes I change up the wording on my sign. I ditch “Ask me for a blessing” and try something new. The most recent example - “Prayers for healing with holy oil.” I’d say most people don’t fully understand what holy oil is but perhaps can appreciate the physicality of it. We worship a God we cannot see, so anything sacred that is also tangible holds a certain appeal. At least that was my thinking in “advertising” holy oil when offering prayers on the street that day.  In my

I recently visited my church’s sister parish in London. The priest there was kind enough to make a large “Ask me for a blessing” sign so...

This is a first and hopefully a last – someone asked me to unbaptize them. It was a woman who appeared to be in her thirties. She was...

Every once in a while, I get to bless a baby in utero. This includes expectant moms in my congregation and sometimes strangers I meet...

The other day I got chalk on someone’s forehead when giving them a blessing. It was left over from writing and rewriting “Ask me for a...

I recently cried for the first time in this ministry. I’ve gotten misty-eyed before, but this was the first time a tear actually escaped...

A few days ago I got to offer blessings in downtown Nashville, right outside Christ Church Cathedral. As I set up on the sidewalk in the...

This week I met a man who asked for a blessing on his first day of sobriety. He was an alcoholic and clearly hungover. Bloodshot eyes,...

A clergy colleague once told me, "The demons come out before Christmas and Easter.” His point was that spiritual darkness in the world...

Last week I had two prayer requests related to marriage. The first was from a middle-aged couple who said they wanted their marriage “to...

It’s been a minute. And by “a minute,” I mean well over a year. It’s hard to believe I haven’t posted to this blog since January of 2021....

New York's WABC-TV covered this ministry on the 5:00 news. Click here for the story!

This week I resumed my ministry of offering blessings outside. Only now I have a special mask to match my stole (green for the season of...

As a minister in an urban setting, I come into contact with my fair share of people with signs of severe mental illness. “Saucy J” told...

Last week I got my first kneeler. Someone kneeled down on the sidewalk in front of me and asked for a blessing. Even more surprising than...

Three weeks ago today was the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals, which always falls on October 4. It feels like forever...

As I stood in front of my church to offer blessings this week, I kept fixating on its shadow. Our church building casts a large shadow on...

"My wife's father was murdered a year ago and her emotions still erupt like a volcano." I've heard a lot of surprising things in this...