Cooking with Elsa

Recipes for Ministry

  • Recipe for Blessing the Broken Hearted

    Blessing is one of those thing that clergy do. Sometimes it’s something only clergy do though I know well that even as clergy I often wonder what gives me the authority to offer blessing. Years ago, this beautiful video was… Continue reading

    Recipe for Blessing the Broken Hearted

  • Recipe for Resurrection Awe Strolls

    Here in Texas there has been a terrible freeze. There was snow and it left a good chunk of the state without power including most everyone in my sweet Texas church back in Central Texas. We did have snow over… Continue reading

    Recipe for Resurrection Awe Strolls

  • Recipe for Zoom Prayer and Pretzel Making

    I want there to be lots of fun options for connection and community in Lent. I have been brainstorming ideas and wondering what is possible while we are still online. I want there to be silliness in this season that… Continue reading

    Recipe for Zoom Prayer and Pretzel Making

  • Recipe for a Pandemic Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

    Worship is not the only thing that adds flavor to congregational life. We are nourished by times of fellowship and times of service. As we approach the season of Lent again, I’ll be sharing more recipes for ministry. If you… Continue reading

    Recipe for a Pandemic Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

  • Pandemic Prayers for Proper 17

    In the past week, my clergy groups have been full of posts and comments about how tired you are. Not just because you’re working so hard, dear clergy, or even because you need a vacation. Though, I imagine, those add… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for Proper 17

  • Stewardship in Coronatide

    I shared a few days ago some worship brainstorming for the season ahead and it got me thinking about the other big thing that often happens in the fall season in our churches: the pledge drive. Most churches still tend… Continue reading

    Stewardship in Coronatide

  • Recipe for Gratitude

    Many congregations, including the one that I am working with right now as a consultant, care for their members by putting in the mail cards full of love and support when someone has fallen ill or is bereaved. Some congregations… Continue reading

    Recipe for Gratitude

  • Recipe for Discernment

    I had the honor of meeting Elizabeth Liebert last month in San Anselmo where I began my studies in spiritual direction. I had read her book The Way of Discernment way back when I was discerning whether or to leave… Continue reading

    Recipe for Discernment

  • Recipe for Learning to Pray

    Last week, I finally finished Carol Howard Merritt’s Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation. It really shouldn’t have taken me that long and it is certainly no reflection on the book. It’s me. I had three chapters back… Continue reading

    Recipe for Learning to Pray

  • Recipe for the Worrying Church

    Sometimes it is the Lectionary that sparks an idea or sometimes it is a story that you have held close over these many years. This recipe is a little bit of both. On Sunday, we will hear the story of… Continue reading

    Recipe for the Worrying Church