The Lurking Evil of Christian Nationalism
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on May, 25 2023Christian nationalists – who are overwhelmingly white – think they are privileged and that their privileged status comes from God. Historically, they see the United States as the new Israel, a nation designated by God as a shining light on a hill to the rest of the world.
Planting Seeds in the Kin-dom
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on May, 18 2023Ahead of Pentecost, the month of May offers International Labor Day, Beltane, and Mother’s Day (United States). Each one is ripe with spirituality, and combined, they invite us to choose one another, to look out for one another’s wellbeing, and to move continually toward the kin-dom of God.
Blood and Bananas
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on May, 11 2023We live in a world defined by the cheapness of human life, indeed, all life. Migrants and refugees are treated no better than the Amazon rainforest. And yet, as entanglement shows us and as the tolling bell reminds us, all is One.
Progressive Christianity & Psychedelics
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on May, 4 2023There. I said it. I know I’m not the first, and I surely won’t be the last. It’s time to embrace and promote. My way of proclaiming the good news of psychedelic plant medicines as part of our salvation and healing is writing.
The Divine Within
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on April, 27 2023Namasté: “The Divine in me honors the Divine in you.” In my way of seeing it, namasté includes the understanding that we all are one.
Becoming A Digital Evangelist: An Invitation For Progressive Christians
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on April, 20 2023Progressive faith communities are rightfully skeptical of the language of “evangelism.” In modern history, the word has come to mean something like “forceful conversion” rather than a demonstration of and an invitation to the way of Jesus.
Retiring Atonement (preferably with extreme prejudice)
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on April, 13 2023Christianity is the only major religion where many followers believe the death of their founder is more important than his life.
Conversation Therapy
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on April, 6 2023It has been said that words make worlds. And if this is true, that what we say and how we say it matters. If this is true, language is sacred. For in its origins language would be the Self-expression, not just of the human species—but of the world itself.
We are all wonderfully made
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on March, 30 2023The Bible is replete with stories of various gender identities in God’s people. These biblical stories affirm that we all are wonderfully made and affirm our God-given right to live them out loud.
Blaming Progressives for the Death of the Church
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on March, 23 2023Strangely, this critique of the death of church as spawned by progressives is really another way of saying that we failed to remain intellectually dishonest about how we got the Bible, what it means to call it our flawed but irreplaceable Story of Origin, and what scholars have now shown us about the enormous gap between faith as developed doctrine and faith as discipleship–a commitment to being followers of Jesus, not worshippers of Christ. We may be a lot smaller, but like leaven in the loaf, we may also be more subversive.
I am tired of giving to charities.
Column by Rev. Jess Shine on March, 16 2023Let me say that again for the people in the back. I’m tired of giving money to charities. I’ve served the church in development and parish life for over 20 years. I don’t believe giving is wrong. The Bible tells us God loves a cheerful giver and infers that we can’t out give God. So why do I say I’m tired of giving to charities?
M. D. Chenu’s Very Progressive Christianity
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on March, 9 2023Why is a Chenu Institute and a new book about him such good news for progressive Christians today? Because he was a progressive and courageous theologian throughout his life and was unafraid to break the glass in so many areas of culture and religion including theological education.
The Birth and Death of the First Century Church – Part 2
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on March, 2 2023We began with a description of human nature and used that to try to understand who Jesus was and how he was able to impact people, an analysis that bypasses much of the traditional theology about who and what he was.
Flipping the “He Gets Us” Script
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on February, 23 2023The people behind HeGetsUs don’t get him. But that doesn’t prevent us from using their campaign to help folks get who Jesus really was – and making his compassionate personality the welcoming face of our progressive faith communities.
What happens when we are gone?
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on February, 16 2023What will happen if we disappear? Not “we” as in Earth’s upright and most capable digit-users, though I’m sure we’ll deal with that over the course of time, but “we” as in progressive thinkers in the church. What will happen if we disappear?
Rising Above the Darkness of These Times
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on February, 9 2023I don’t know about you, but in recent times, I can hardly bear to watch the news. It’s simply too depressing. Gun violence continues to spin out of control with scant hope of any sensible resolution in sight.
Over the Hills and Everywhere
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on February, 2 2023“Where are Americans finding meaning in their lives? How are they marking the passing of sacred time? Where are they building pockets of vibrant communities?
Friendship, Companionship, Grief, Love
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on January, 26 2023I lost a very dear friend the day after Christmas.
I look, out of habit, out of longing, out of love, really, but he is not there. It is as if his singular space – the very soft shape of kindness within my world – has been cut out.
All-Loving – A Better Doctrine
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on January, 19 2023“Good orthodoxy leads to good orthopraxy” is a common aphorism wielded among conservative evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. It’s frequently worded in a more aggressive manner: “without proper orthodoxy, there can be no proper Christian discipleship.”
More God in Us, Less Us in God
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on January, 12 2023Few progressive Christians believe that God is something we can truly ever fully understand. Yet, in constantly choosing to anthropomorphize God, we provide ourselves with fertile mental ground for believing we are doing just that.
The Kingdom of God Within: A Challenge for Progressive Christians
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on January, 5 2023At the heart of the Christian faith is the central command of Jesus to love God by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. In other words, the precursor to effectively loving God and effectively loving others is to build a healthy rhythm of self-love.
A Conversation with Rachel Laser – Part 2
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on December, 29 2022The following is Part 2 of two columns drawn from an interview with Rachel Laser, President of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
A Conversation with Rachel Laser, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State – Part 1
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on December, 22 2022The following is Part 1 of two columns drawn from an interview with Rachel Laser, President of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, December 1st, 2022. It has been edited for length and focus.
An Advent Love-Poem to Holy Darkness
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on December, 15 2022Advent is a season especially attuned to the Darkness, and it’s rhythms—not primarily the light. For the Darkness has a strange luminosity all its own, but our eyes must readjust.
World AIDS Day 2022
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on December, 8 2022African Americans are still disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. And the epidemic is heavily concentrated in urban enclaves like Boston, Detroit, New York, Newark, Washington, D.C., and the Deep South.