On the PTS Blog, we invite alumnae/i to share reflections, stories, and practical tips from their ministry experience. This week, the Rev. B.T. Gilligan ’11 offers advice on cultivating a congregation’s healthy relationship with the practice of financial stewardship from his pastoral experience at Nixon UMC. Beyond the Dreaded “Fall Pledge Drive” As a 2011…
Jesus, Patches, and Timely Choices
“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the…
God Broke My Box – A Recent Graduate’s Seminary Experience
Ray Pelling graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s master of divinity degree program in 2023. Seminary pushed Ray to reexamine his ideas about God, himself, his community, and the relationships between these groups. The journey was challenging, but richly rewarding. For example, Ray left seminary with new eyes to see the beauty—and invitations—of Scripture. As…