Bethlehem, Gaza, and the Gospel We’d Rather Avoid
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on December, 4 2025It’s disorienting. The split-screen of unpacking Christmas decorations and news footage of Gaza in ruins. At the same time, we’re untangling light strings to “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” our news feeds are filled with images of Palestinian families fleeing bombs in the very region that birthed the story we’re supposed to be celebrating.
Real Dissent: My First Time
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on November, 27 2025“Mr. Nigh, if God is recommending unlimited forgiveness to us, then why would God not practice what Jesus preaches?” My Nigh looked confused, so I continued. “Isn’t the idea of a final judgment and unlimited forgiveness incompatible? An awkward silence followed. “I mean, if unlimited forgiveness is the lesson, then wouldn’t God forgive us all one last time, and send everyone to heaven?”
The Next Christianity: Love Without Fear
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on November, 20 2025In my last article, I asked, “What if we take the training wheels off God?” That question’s still rattling around in a lot of people’s heads. Some told me it felt like a breath of fresh air. Others said it felt like the floor gave way under them. Both reactions make sense. Growth usually starts with a little wobble.
Interspirituality, Deep Ecumenism, Shared Wisdom: The Future of Humanity?
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on November, 13 2025Maybe religion is rising to its task of spreading shared values of peace, justice, and solidarity in contrast to religious wars of the past, bent on conquest, domination, and forced conversions.
How To Love Our Enemies
Column by Dr. Amanda Udis-Kessler on November, 6 2025What should any of us do about our enemies – beyond not killing them? Well, that’s easy. According to Jesus, we should love them. Sounds simple, right? But it’s so, so hard! It may be the hardest thing we ever try to do. That said, there are ways to love our enemies that we don’t articulate often enough, so I’m going to propose some concrete steps we can take along these lines.
Asinine Wisdom
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on October, 30 2025The word “asinine” means stupid or foolish, behaving like an ass – a donkey. But the Christian tradition indicates quite the opposite. When our heads get hot, as oft is the case in this era of history, we do well to consider the wisdom of donkeys.
Thoughts about the Church
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on October, 23 2025There is much in the world about which to be sad and distressed these days. Most of it is obvious, filling the daily headlines, but not …
The Future Looks Progressive
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on October, 16 2025I’m a pastor employed by an institutional church, and I’ve found deep meaning in gathering each week in intentional community. For me, congregational life has been life-giving, deepening my faith and expanding my compassion. But here’s the thing: I’m not particularly invested in ensuring the institutional stability of organized religion.
Rising Authoritarianism and Mental Health in America
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on October, 9 2025Increasingly, the rise of authoritarianism in American politics poses a serious threat to our institutions and to our democratic way of life. This rise is not unique to the United States.
The Power of the Local Church: Reminding Ourselves of the Value of Organized Religion in an Authoritarian Age
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on October, 2 2025I am hearing a lot of people in this era say they are overwhelmed—and understandably so. Many feel helpless and fatigued, wondering if there is anything they can do to repair the world as they watch the powers that be systematically dismantle it.
Drinking the Cup We’d Rather Not – Part II
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on September, 25 2025I write today seeking to work with the primary texts of the Christian tradition and invite us to operate from that “biblical” paradigm. The writers of the gospels present a Jesus who sees things as they are, calls things as he sees them, and doesn’t offer false hope or cheap grace. The writers depict Jesus foreseeing the end of Jerusalem/Israel, and the author of Revelation even has him proclaiming the eventual end of the Roman Empire.
Marriage Equality on the rocks
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on September, 18 2025Overturning marriage equality is now a present threat. Many of the issues both POC and LGBTQI+ Americans confront in Trump’s first term- health care, unemployment, housing, immigration, voting rights, among others – are front and center, again, and on the chopping block. And the fear is palpable.
“Blessed are the Warmongers,” said Jesus Never
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on September, 11 2025May’s commencement speech at West Point contained a number of surprises for the cadets, not the least of which was President Trump informing them that the military was going to have a new focus: “crushing America’s adversaries, killing America’s enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before.”
I Could Leave The World With Today In My Eyes
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on September, 4 2025Fundamentalists make sure we see the EXIT signs, while poets, philosophers, and mystics are always pointing us toward the ENTRANCE signs. Heaven, sayeth the preacher of fear, is someplace else—anyplace else—and this world is best gotten out of, not moved more deeply into. How odd then, that the ministry of Jesus was such a brief but intense walk-about, knee deep in the sacredness of the ordinary.
What If We Take the Training Wheels Off God?
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on August, 28 2025Bishop John Shelby Spong had this wild talent for saying the quiet parts out loud, the stuff most pastors only whisper about to their dogs at midnight. He’d ask questions like: What if the God we grew up with isn’t real? What if “theism” (the idea that there’s a bearded sky-dweller micromanaging our lives) is just one more human story we’ve outgrown?
Psychedelics, Mystical Experience, the Sacred and the Practical
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on August, 21 2025Liturgy in general (also called ritual or ceremony) ought to supply mystical experiences on a regular basis, and our Comic Masses invariably do that. But regular Sunday services often fall far short. Transcendent experiences are rare and not the norm.
Tidings of Discomfort and Joy: The Bad (But Really Good) News of Jesus
Column by Dr. Amanda Udis-Kessler on August, 14 2025Discomfort plays a huge role in making our society crueler these days, causing heartbreaking (and avoidable) suffering for many people. White, conservative Christian men and their supporters are uncomfortable with economic, social, political, and cultural changes that appear to lower their status (by defining them as equal to those they see as inferiors).
Drinking the Cup We’d Rather Not – Part I
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on August, 7 2025The American crowds yearned for a leader of perceived principle and strength to improve our self-esteem—and got played by appeals to our baser instincts. Too many of my fellow citizens, including a statistical majority of self-identified Christians, allowed their bigotry against women, trans and gay people, brown people, unhoused, and disabled people to cause them to vote against their own best interests.
Losing Our Inhibitions
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on July, 31 2025Our progressive Christian churches have a unique and critical role to play in preserving freedom and democracy in this time of crisis. We must make our voices heard – not just to protest, but to be persuasive and effective at tipping public opinion in the direction of decency.
Violence
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on July, 24 2025The threat of physical violence, even murder, is real in America today, but the violence is not only physical, but mental as well. All Americans, citizens included, now live in fear of being swept off the street by ICE, especially those of us who are brown or black.
A Symbol of Hope: Deutero-Isaiah and Superman
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on July, 17 2025The hope found in Deutero-Isaiah, which was written in Exile, is like the hope found in Superman when most compassionate Americans feel like morals are in Exile. Like Deutero-Isaiah, Superman reminds us that better times are possible if we embrace higher values.
The Imagination Must Come Before the Implementation
Column by Brian McLaren on July, 10 2025One of my favorite songwriters happens to be my daughter, Jodi McLaren. (Yes, I’m biased, but yes, she’s amazing!) She recently wrote and recorded a powerful song as a way of dealing with her grief, outrage, and moral agony about what has been unfolding in and around Gaza. Of course, I share her grief, outrage, and moral agony.
Pope Leo XIV: A Beacon of Hope in a Suffering World
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on July, 3 2025Known as a deeply humble man, a man of high moral principle, Pope Leo XIV could not have come along at a better time. Given the endless evil of Trumpism and Trump’s ruthless buddy, Vladimir Putin in Russia, the world is desperate for a moral voice to speak out. From what we have seen of Pope Leo so far, he can be that voice. Indeed, he can be a beacon of hope in a suffering world.
When Faith Becomes a Weapon: The Oldest Lie in the Book
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on June, 26 2025For as long as folks have been swinging swords, they’ve been etching God’s name on the blade to make themselves feel better about it. It’s one of humanity’s oldest bad habits: turning the God of Love into the god of conquest, oppression, and holy war.
As My Father Lay Dying
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on June, 19 2025For as long as I can remember, my father talked about God all the time—at least from the pulpit. At home, he acted more like an agnostic, reluctant even to pray before a meal, unless it was the required offering at Thanksgiving.