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.”
Infinitely Intimate
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on July, 25 2024In the life of the soul there is no substitute for direct knowledge. The spiritual journey unfolds in and through our direct personal experiences that is fueled by the soul’s longing. As human beings our longing both to know and to be known is infinite. A challenge for us is the discovery that even if we know ourselves or another directly, the longing remains.
An Alpine Reverie
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on July, 18 2024And as you adore the people adoring the blessed sacrament around you, you ponder how very many different circumstances brought them here and how many very different experiences they may be having right now.
What is Law?
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on July, 11 2024The laws we have are products of a particular group, not universal truths. The question then becomes: who gets to say what? White land-owning founding fathers? Hateful white nationalist? The majority? A greasy wheel minority? In a sense, every rule or law arises out of a specific context, a given historical situation.
United Methodist Church now open to LGBTQ+ Methodists
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on July, 4 2024In June, United Methodist Church delegates voted to repeal its church’s long-held exclusionary stance of its LGBTQ+ Methodists- in church doctrine, polity, and social standing. The news was received with mixed feelings – cheers and tears.
Rescuing Christianity from the Church
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on June, 27 2024Whenever churches focus too much time and energy on church membership, attendance, budget, and endowment, over time, they lose their way. Churches would be better off focusing on the realization of the church’s mission statement, which has to do with their sense of identity and purpose as communities of faith.
What Does Progressive Christianity Mean to Me?
Column by Brian McLaren on June, 20 2024After growing up in a Fundamentalist/Evangelical Christian tradition, I have come to identify as a Progressive Christian. I’ve noticed that the term has a lot of different meanings to different people, which makes sense given that relatively few of us started as Progressive Christians. For many of us, Progressive Christianity is like the place we we came to as we escaped from somewhere else. The word “camp” is fitting:. I don’t think of Progressive Christianity as a destination, but rather an ongoing process.
Christians Caring for Creation
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on June, 13 2024There is not much in this world that I would call a miracle, but the world itself definitely is. It’s existence and ability to support and sustain the life that it has is simply improbable. How dare humanity so go about to indifferently as we are destroying a miracle.
Making Room for the Unimaginable
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on June, 6 2024For our entire existence, humans have lived with two realities: the religion of empire and the religion of creation. The religion of empire is a kingdom, ruled through the lens of Individualism and fueled by the fear of scarcity. The religion of creation is a kin-dom, ruled through the lens of relatedness and fueled by the generosity that is love.
Christianity Doesn’t Exist
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on May, 30 2024Christianity doesn’t exist. Christianity has never existed. These might seem like radical statements, but they are objectively true. For the past 2,000 years, there has never been a singular, united, global religion called “Christianity,” but rather millions of variations of a spirituality rooted in the person of Jesus that most scholars now refer to as “Christianities.”
Proclaiming Pronounced Progress in the Progressive Church Family!
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on May, 23 2024For decades, the United Methodist Church has been a notable outlier. With 7 million members in the U.S., the UMC is the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination and is by all accounts quite liberal and progressive on most matters – except for the matters concerning homosexuality.
The Tail That Keeps on Flopping
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on May, 16 2024he schism the United Methodist Church has been enduring the last few years, culminating in this Spring’s General Conference in North Carolina, is also a direct result of unresolved Civil War era prejudices.
Honest To God
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on May, 9 2024When pastors retire after a lifetime of service to the church, they often preach a last sermon unfettered by concerns for continued employment. It is the sermon “they always wanted to preach” but were afraid to, lest some big contributor take her money and leave the building. Clergy are, by and large, not a particularly courageous lot.
Radically You
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on May, 2 2024Today, I want to talk about one of my modern-day heroes, Alok V. Menon, known as ALOK. ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, public speaker, and actor. I’ll add prophet. ALOK speaks brave truth to power and firmly holds themself in compassion and love.
Progressive Christian Visibility Day
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on April, 25 2024That great defender of the faith, Don Trump, responding in faux outrage to the fact that Trans Visibility Day happened to coincide with Easter this year, declared that Election Day 2024 should be “Christian Visibility Day.” As if Christians have a visibility problem in America today.
The Aquinas Nobody (or Hardly Anybody) Knows
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on April, 18 2024It has been my privilege to absorb the teachings of Aquinas in my training as a Dominican and in particular with two notable scholars, Father Athanasius Weisheipl, OP (who went from the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois to the Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto) and the esteemed Aquinas scholar, theologian and historian, Father M. D. Chenu, OP.
Timeless Womb
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on April, 11 2024Scholars have debated for decades whether Jesus referred to himself as “the son of God.” I agree with those who conclude no. Jesus, as Walter Wink demonstrates, most likely understood and spoke of himself in the tradition of the prophet Ezekiel, as “the son of man,” or “the human one”.
Evangelicals Support of Trump Renders Christianity Unrecognizable
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on April, 4 2024Who is Donald Trump? As our nation prepares for another contentious presidential election seven months from now, the cult and menace of Donald Trump continue to loom large on the horizon. It would be hard to imagine a more dishonest, corrupt, and unfit candidate for President of the United States.