Doug McMahon.

March 30, 2020

Community is a Gift

When I was a boy, I lived on the Jersey Shore in a little seaside town called Ocean Grove near Asbury Park. Once a year, on a Saturday in mid-June, the Eagle Hook and Ladder Company hosted the Strawberry Festival. This was a high holy day for our little town. From noon until 7:00 pm at night, hundreds of people, all day long, lined up around the block for a paper plate overflowing with a round yellow sponge cake, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, and an enormous pile of fresh New Jersey strawberries. Holding paper plates in their hands like priests presiding at an altar, local residents found…

March 23, 2020

A Leap of Hope

When I was 24-years old, my wife, Robin, and I worked at a very large homeless shelter in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. We were surprised by the amount of suffering and poverty right in front of us. We met an elderly couple, immigrants from Europe, who moved into the shelter during that first weekend. They were artists and their apartment had caught on fire. These two reminded me of the old couple in the song, The Dutchman, performed by Steve Goodman. They survived the fire, but were suddenly homeless in January in Chicago. A young woman, barely 17 years old, the mother of four children moved into the shelter.…

January 31, 2019

Becoming Fully Human

Christian spirituality is a way of being in the world, not an escape from it. A life of faith is lived, daily, in the world. It’s not about avoiding real problems or relying on a belief in a rapture that will whisk us away from planet earth. The parables of Jesus, contrary to avoiding real world problems, invite us to live more compassionately and become more fully human. Christian tradition teaches that Jesus Christ was fully God, but also fully human. If Jesus can be fully human shouldn’t we be fully human? As the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “The chief end of man is to glory God and enjoy him…

May 11, 2017

A Tribute to Jeff

A Service of Worship in Witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and in Thanksgiving for the Life of the Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Keil Krehbiel Saturday, May 6, 2017 The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church and Church of the Pilgrims Washington D.C. Today, I want to speak of friendship. Jeff was a treasured friend. He was a friend to me, and many of you here today, and many others who cannot be here today. He was a very good friend and I will miss him deeply and for the rest of my life. He made a difference in my life, and I hope in some way, I did the same…

August 12, 2014

West Region Choir at Eckerd College

The Tampa Bay Times reports that freshmen students participated in the Ceremony of Lights at Eckerd on their first day of college. The Times reported that, “The ceremony, a long-standing practice for incoming Eckerd freshmen and their families, marks the reception of the class.” The Maximo Presbyterian Church Choir also sang at the ceremony. To read more about the ceremony, visit here. You can also read about the event at the Eckerd web page.

August 11, 2014

Moderator of Presbyterian Church to Visit St Pete

The following is from the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay: The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Heath Rada, will be the guest of honor at a reception at Maximo Presbyterian Church. There will be a Q/A period and refreshments. Date: Tuesday, August 12th Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: 3200 58th St. South, St. Petersburg All Tampa Bay Presbyterians are welcome. Read more about the new moderator here.

August 5, 2014

365 Days with a New Presbytery: Episode 2

This is the second post in my new series, 365 Days with a New Presbytery. You can find the first post here. These are challenging but exciting times for ministry in Pinellas County and Pasco County in Florida. There are many opportunities for education, ministry and mission all around us. About a million people live in the West region! Pinellas and Pasco are also some of the wealthiest counties in the country. We have lots of people and money. But most of the people and their money don’t intersect with our congregations. How will Presbyterians respond? The West region also is home to some of the poorest neighborhoods in the…

August 2, 2014

365 Days with a New Presbytery

Today, I will be attending the first meeting of a new group that may become a new presbytery, a governing body in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Western Region, as it is named, includes all of Pinellas County and portions of Pasco Country, Florida. The Presbytery of Tampa Bay has created three new regions and will delegate most of the work of the Presbytery to these three new commissions. As we begin this new adventure in the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, I will blog about questions that need to be asked, and invite guest bloggers to blog about our new way of being a Presbytery. Why is this important? I…

December 19, 2013

Where Will Floridians See Jesus Next Time?

Originally posted on Doug McMahon.: The St. Pete Times reports that a man at a car dealership in Dade City sees Jesus in the grain of a wooden door in the used car sales office. You can read the story here. The same article also reported that Floridians in recent years have seen Jesus and/or his Mother Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich, a sea shell, a pancake, a 7×7 foot slab of granite, a potato chip, and, back in December of 1996, Floridians saw what looked like the Virgin Mary on a glass building then being leased by a car rental company. Seeing this roll call of appearances all together in one long list causes me to wonder what Jesus…

December 9, 2013

Do We Need to Change?

During the season of Advent, Christians read the stories about John the Baptist announcing the advent of the Messiah. Century after century, Christians have reflected on verses about change, like Matthew 3:2, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” About 2,000 years ago, John the Baptist called for change. Sometimes the word is translated “repent.” What does it mean for us to repent today? I’m guessing that you already know that you need some changes in your life. You and God are probably on the same page. No person knows you better than you. And, no one knows you better than God. You don’t need a…

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