Sacred Reborn
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on September, 28 2023The experience of the sacred is not an easy thing to define. It is outside of human terms and metaphors. It lives beyond the binaries and outside of boxes. There is no scientific definition of the experience of the sacred.
The “G” word and the “F” Word in High Places: Signs of Our Times
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on September, 21 2023Along with climate change and the move from religion to spirituality, another sign of our times is the rise of the G word and the F word alive and well in high places. I am speaking of course of Greed and Fascism.
The Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and Dialectical Mystery
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on September, 14 2023The transition from a Medieval to an Enlightenment way of thinking does not come easily. When I was a kid in the Norwegian American Lutheran Church, a bigger-than-life portrait of Jesus praying in Gethsemane was stationed over the altar, a Sunday reminder that his all-important death, soon to come, was our salvation. Jesus loved us, this we knew because the Bible told us so. And the Bible did not lie.
Jesus in Eden
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on September, 7 2023The Bible is a mirror. In it, we see the structure of our psyches. We see the scaffolding of our spirituality. What makes the Bible holy is not that it is the “word of God”, but rather that so many of its passages offer such breathtakingly vivid reflections of the journeys of our souls.
Liturgy for Life
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on August, 31 2023If you’re a mainline Christian, you likely experienced liturgy even if you are of a less liturgical tradition than the Episcopal or Presbyterian churches. And very possibly, even if you don’t know what it is, you’ve been steeped in it.
Toward an Ethics of Consequences
Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on August, 24 2023the term ethical grace emphasizes the importance of the choices we make in our lives every day to support the goodness of life on earth. Every day, we make choices that matter.
Three Practices for Staying In Love
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on August, 17 2023When current events and self-perpetuating systems pin me in the extractive, enslaving, short-sighted story, there are 3 practices that help me to listen for divine guidance and to re-engage in the love story’s emerging plot.
All Hands on Deck
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on August, 10 2023Folks, this is serious stuff. In fact, managing human-aggravated global warming and climate change is the single most important moral matter of our generation.
Down with Christian Nationalism
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on August, 3 2023I’d even go as far as to say the modern version of Dominionism, that’s now called Christian Nationalism, is nothing like the teachings of the man who said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Reclaiming Our Progressive Christian Tradition
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on July, 27 2023A majority of those who are now identifying as “Progressive Christians” are converts, so to speak, those fleeing other Christian traditions that had no real knowledge of Progressive Christianity.
Yes, The 10 Commandments ARE Un-American
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on July, 20 2023Hooray! Yet another Christian Nationalist effort to strangle American values has gone out with a whimper. This time, it was a Texas Senate Bill that, if passed, would have required the 10 Commandments to be displayed prominently in every classroom in the state.
The Real End Times – From Doom to Faith
Column by Rev. Michael Dowd on July, 13 2023Here we are, immersed in a swirl of biospheric breakdown and societal strife that isn’t going away; in fact, it’s getting worse. The darkness and distress cannot be passed off as the wrath of an angry God. Rather, we ourselves are at cause, and these are the real end times.
Why Call Ourselves Progressive?
Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on July, 6 2023There’s been a lot of conversation recently about whether we still need to use the term “progressive” as a qualifier for Christian. As a movement, we’ve been using the label for about 3 decades, and with so many cultural shifts, it’s only natural to raise the question of whether it still fits.
The Million Woman Walkout
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on June, 29 2023Just when you thought things could not get worse, the Southern Baptists have declared that not only can women not be pastors, or anyone in a “position of authority over men,” but that SBC churches already led by women should be purged from the denomination.
You can have PRIDE too!
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on June, 22 2023Systemic racism and oppression of marginalized folk’s experience is ingrained in all of us and in every system. Even if every person became anti-racist and radically inclusive, our systems would still be a huge barrier to the liberation and equality of all.
From Nuns to Nones: The Future of Western Christianity
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on June, 15 2023The facts emerging about the future of organized religion and institutional Christianity in North America are quite sobering indeed.
East Illuminates West
Column by Support - Progressing Spirit on June, 8 2023The East-West spiritual encounter has been profoundly formative for progressive Christianity. Experiencing the meditative practices of the East has inspired us to explore the previously neglected contemplative tradition of our faith.
Beyond Now
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on June, 1 2023If you’re on a quest for the afterlife, you’ve plenty of options. Heaven, Nirvana, Paradise; She’ol, Limbo, Purgatory; Jahannam, Hell, the Chinvat Bridge to Darkness.
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.