Getting Over the Grand Narrative
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on January, 16 2025I love a good story, and the Exodus story is one of the best in the Bible! …What a story! It’s filled with drama, violence, intrigue, unlikely heroes, and unexpected twists. It’s fun to read, even though many of us know it well.
Give Us a King!
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on January, 9 2025Mythology is a way to tell the truth, and the Hebrew writings are a string of pearls, one myth after the other, one truth after the other, and the truths tell a grim story about who we are as human beings.
The Rise of Hate in Post-election America
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on January, 2 2025As the reality of this “hate language” settles in, imagine if you are a person of color in this country. My spouse is Hispanic, from Panama. Both she and her younger sister, who lives with us, say they no longer feel safe here.
Liturgy in a Living Tradition
Column by Brian McLaren on December, 26 2024In a living religious tradition, participants have, not simply permission, but more: a moral responsibility to adapt and innovate in an attempt to improve the truth, goodness, and beauty of the version of the tradition they received from their ancestors.
Such a Strange Way to Save The World
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on December, 19 2024When it comes to “saving the world,” I am much more interested in the life and teachings of Jesus than I am in any divinely ordered sacrificial actions that humanity has overly burdened the stories with. Even in the stories themselves, we see signs of the importance of his life and teachings.
Now Is The Time To Be Prophets
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on December, 12 2024Biblically, there’s no indication that prophets necessarily have supernatural powers. Occasionally, prophets hear the voice of God and communicate it to their people, but more often, prophets are simply those who perceive the actions of their communities and deduce the likely consequences.
It’s Time to Get Weird
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on December, 5 2024Donald Trump is returning to office. The part of me that majored in Political Science wants to remind us of how political pendulums tend to swing back and forth over the years, and even so, general progress has been taking place for humanity. This part wants to join St. Julian of Norwich in saying that in the big picture, “all shall be well.”
No More Easy Fixes
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on November, 28 2024In order to push back, in both religion and in politics, we have to get over our addiction to the “easy fix.” It’s not only a lie, but in the case of November 5th’s election, it’s straightforward escapism — evading the real issues at hand in order to avoid any personal responsibility.
Where Have All the Prophets Gone?
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on November, 21 2024We are living in a post-truth, post-trust, post-rational world divided by fear and deception. How did we get here? By incremental acceptance of the unacceptable until it seems normal.
Gustavo Guttieriez, Liberation Theology and Creation Spirituality: An Appreciation
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on November, 14 2024In honor of Gustavo Guttieriez’s recent death, I found myself thumbing through some of his works in my home library and my eyes especially fell on his Conclusion to his fine study On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent.
Embracing Apocalypse
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on November, 6 2024In Hebrew scriptures and repeated in New Testament teachings, G-d assumes all authority in the practice of vengeance. If, after thousands of years, we truly trusted this to G-d, how might we face this moment we have co-constructed? The wars, the biodiversity loss, the assault weapons, the changed climate.
It’s Kamala’s Time!
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on October, 31 2024When I heard the news of Harris running for President, I immediately thought about how my deceased Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm would be proud of this moment. Chisholm was the first African American woman to campaign for the presidential nomination in 1972 on the Democratic ticket.
Founded on Love
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on October, 24 2024It is much worse to wreck the law’s foundation, which is perfectly legal to do, than it is to break the law, which can land you in jail. Unless Americans understand this, and vote accordingly, we’ll lose our democracy on November 5.
Politics, Religion, & You
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on October, 17 2024American Christians often wonder exactly how their faith and politics ought to intersect. It’s an understandable confusion, especially for those who value freedom of belief and religious diversity. I often hear that we should “keep politics out of the pulpit,” but doing so is a theological impossibility for those who take Jesus’ teachings seriously because Christianity is inherently political.
Dying As An Invitation To Intimacy
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on October, 10 2024Our ego approaches life as if there were too little time to overcome the breach of space that separates us from one another. The fuel propelling our drive is the thoughts littered like kindling across the landscape of our mind as we have struggled to construct a seamless forever bridge from our heart to another’s.
Filling the Void with White Pseudo Christian Nationalism – Election 2024
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on October, 3 2024White, Christian, and nationalism are three words not to be taken lightly, three kairotic words that demand explanation and understanding. So here is our question: why does a movement describe itself as white, Christian, and nationalist?
The Dystopian Vision of Project 2025
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on September, 26 2024At the heart of Project 2025 is an aggressive and ambitious policy agenda for a vast expansion of presidential power. In spite of Donald Trump’s endless denials that he knows anything about the project, the leaders of the project are virtually all close associates of the former president.
The Problem of Silos, and Building a Field Beyond Them
Column by Brian McLaren on September, 19 2024In my years as a pastor, I frequently lamented the religious and denominational silos that inhibited collaboration among faith communities and leaders in a neighborhood, city, or region. It seemed that intra-religious and intra-denominational demands were so great that multi-religious and trans-denominational collaborations were relegated to the margins.
Reproductive Rights and the Bible
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on September, 12 2024First of all, the New Testament doesn’t directly deal with the issue of abortion or even when life begins. And, the Old Testament or the Jewish Bible turns out to not be anti-abortion at all.
For Such A Time As This
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on September, 5 2024We all know the damage the Religious Right has done to the reputation of Christianity around the world, and now it is our time to reclaim the moral power of our Christian tradition, using our faith to inspire and motivate the millions of people of faith across the country who are longing for a message of hope, a vision for a better tomorrow, and a way to connect that vision to the faith that forms the foundations of their lives.
John’s Pickle, Paradox, and Promise for Progressive Christians
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on August, 29 2024The Gospel, known as John, is a paradox for progressive Christians. On the one hand, it seems to offer much egalitarian goodness and spiritual depth and insight. On the other hand, it is the gospel that’s been weaponized the most by conservative evangelicals and wielded to serve as a gate for who is in and who is out of the Christian faith – and salvation.
The kingdom of heaven (happiness) is within and among us
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on August, 22 2024Happiness is an elusive… Trickster. We catch wisps of it in our peripheral vision. We taste sips of it in moments of presence and authentic joy. It’s the carrot dangling that keeps us moving forward when we feel empty or like giving up.
Jesus DEI-ed For Us
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on August, 15 2024Some conservatives think they’ve got a winning strategy in disparaging Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris as a “DEI hire.” Because she’s a woman and racial minority, she can’t possibly be qualified — just like all those other non-white, non-straight, non-male people who’ve unfairly been “given” straight, white, male jobs.
Mission Impossible
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on August, 8 2024By now almost everyone has heard the news that Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Education Ryan Walters is requiring that the Bible be taught in every public school from grades 5-12.
Time to Change the Republican Party’s Nickname?
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on August, 1 2024The Republican Party, since the 1870s, has been nicknamed the GOP—the “Grand Old Party.” This was to emphasize its role in preserving the Union during the Civil War. I wonder if, in light of its current cult-like status, it ought to re-brand itself. Maybe GOP should stand for the “Grotesque Old Party.”