Rev. Don Erickson

My work constantly shows me what is essential to the spiritual life. As people face their own frailty, the essence of the good news they most need and want to internalize is that they are not alone, that even when humanly alone, God, in whatever language you put "it," is with them and will not let them go. My role as a minister is to remind them of God’s presence in their midst and of the peace and comfort that comes with that presence. I do this by being present myself with them. In being present together, Jesus’ presence is made manifest. “Whenever two or three are gathered…” Can a church replicate the transformative intimacy of pastoral care? Absolutely. How? By being going back to a more relational, intimate level, replicating the beloved community-building of the earliest church. I am like many of my and the coming generations that find in traditional God-language an innate distance and disconnect when it is imminence and connection we most need and desire. What if we t...

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I was born and raised in Upstate New York, growing up in a working-class household whose parents were evangelical Christians. My first mentor was our church's minister, Rev. Dr. Morgan Jones. He encouraged my love of the Bible, my asking of big questions, and my interest in ministry from a young age From 1990 to 1993, I attended Cedarville University, a Christian college with a focus on biblical studies. I met my wife while at Cedarville and we were married in September 1994. In 2000, I graduated from North Carolina State University where I received my Bachelors of Art in Religious Studies.  In 2004, I graduated from  Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York . I am clinically certified in pastoral care (ACPE), receiving my residency training in 2006-2007 at  Tampa General Hospital . For eight years, I ministered full-time as a hospice chaplain, years essential to my growth as a pastor. In July 2013, I was blessed to be called to serve as the minister of ...

A Sermon by Don Erickson I’ve been thinking about Walking on Water. Not doing it myself, really. I can’t even swim. But I’ve been thinking about Jesus and Peter’s aqua stroll around 30 A.D. You know the story. It goes like this: Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking o...