Ronald D. Culmer – The BTS Center

Contributor: Ronald D. Culmer

The Reverend Ronald D. Culmer is married and has two children, two dogs, and one goldfish in a house small on size but big on love. Ron served in the United States Air Force, and was stationed at Altus AFB in Oklahoma. He has BA from California Lutheran University and a Master of Divinity from The Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Reverend Culmer is the Rector of St. Clare’s Episcopal Church and School in Pleasanton, California and is enrolled in the joint D.Min. program in Congregational Development at Bexley-Seabury and CDSP and expects to finish his dissertation in June of 2018. Find him on Twitter at @onebreadonecup.

Quenching the Fire with Neighborliness

Ronald D. Culmer (Sharing the Season | December 2018). Posted in Commentary.

This fall, California has been on fire. Wide swaths of the state have been burned to the ground. Homes have been destroyed. Schools and hospitals shut down. This, after a summer of drought, a spring of hurricanes—each natural disaster piling upon the next. There is an political and social firestorm as well. We live in a country where deep divisions are being... Read more

Learning From Hearts Broken Open

Lessons from 25 Years of Ministry on the Growing Edge

Ronald D. Culmer (June 2018). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Lessons Learned.

My nephew was a bright, ascending star. His academic acumen was extraordinary. His athletic ability was astounding. Musically, he was captivating with a repertoire and skill that could have landed him just about anywhere. And on July 14, 2018, he took his own life. Journalist Roxanne Roberts was right when she wrote of her father’s death more than 30 years... Read more

Finding the Face of the Church Becoming

Can a Renewed Pluralism Nurture a ‘Church on the Way’ that Engages Young People?

Ronald D. Culmer (April 2018). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality.

It was May, 1965 when a group of African-American Episcopalians from the Episcopal Society for Culture and Racial Unity, also known as ESCRU, attempted to enter an Episcopal Church in St. Augustine, Florida for Sunday mass. As explored in United By Faith: The Multicultural Congregation As An Answer to Race, these Episcopalians were blocked from entering the church... Read more

Radical Gratitude as Resistance

Ronald D. Culmer (November 2017). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, Gratitude.

I’m going to put a whole lot of honesty on the table: I find the age we live in very disturbing. Perhaps you share my concern or, worse yet, have been the object of concern from the likes of me. The truth is, my peace has been disturbed. As an African-American man, fighting for dignity has been a daily chore made that much more difficult because the current... Read more

Announcements

As we shared in the November issue of Bearings, Elizabeth Drescher, friend and consulting scholar with The BTS Center from its earliest days, has recently put down her editor’s pen, wrapping up this project which has been her labor of love for the past five-plus years. We can’t let this moment pass without offering words of deep gratitude and praise for her skillful and spirited work as the primary steward of this publication, month after month, season after season. Read more …
With great joy, we are announcing the 15 recipients of Brave Change Planning Mini-Grants. Each of these $500 grants will help a community of faith or a faith-based organization to plan for a larger project, initiative, or transformation. We are excited about the array of projects, and we are grateful to partner with these faith communities and organizations by providing just a little bit of funding that may help to support and encourage their brave steps forward. Click here to view a brief description of the projects we are funding.
4/29/19 — The BTS Center Board of Trustees announces the selection of The Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill as our new Executive Director, following a national search. He will begin his work with the Center on July 1, succeeding The Rev. Dr. Robert Grove-Markwood who will retire at the end of June. Read more …

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The BTS Center @TheBTSCenter·

The December issue of Bearings, the online magazine of The BTS Center, is our last. With this issue, we celebrate, we give thanks, we bid farewell, and we embrace the spiritual practice of letting go. #bearings #celebrate #farewell
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The BTS Center @TheBTSCenter·

Here's the November issue of Bearings, the online magazine of The BTS Center, focusing on the theme of Brave Change. This month, our contributors explore the role of uncertainty, risk, discovery, and faith in moving life in new and unexpected directions.

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The BTS Center @TheBTSCenter·

Invitation to participate in a Book Study Group focusing on @JimAntal's #Climate #Church, Climate World: How People of #Faith Must Work for #Change. In-person group for people who live in #PortlandME and online group for anyone anywhere. Three sessions.
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