A Letter from Joseph

In the summer of 1998, I began to preach at East Pearl Street Methodist Church. I came to East Pearl fresh off the plane from a year as a missionary doctor to India and Honduras. I had delivered babies, sutured machete wounds, and even contracted malaria during a cholera epidemic. With my head full of stories and my heart on fire, I returned to Yale for residency. When I heard East Pearl needed a Minister, I leapt at the chance.

We are an urban church in a struggling neighborhood. The city's great challenges are our shared ministry: poverty, housing, illness, imprisonment, HIV, psychiatric problems. Despite a gouty boiler, and a wheezy organ (masterfully coddled by our long-time organist Willis Copeland), we thrive with a tireless hope.

As an urban pastor and a young doctor, this sermon collection is my attempt to stoke the fires of hope in a world wired with technology and anxiety. For those wrestling with their faith, doubting their role in the world, or just curious about Christianity, I believe these meditations offer hope and perspective for our modern times.