And Like the Sun, Our Generosity Continues
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on August, 8 2019It has become so easy now to feel anxious, worried or irritable by the state of things, by the frantic commotion modeled all around us, focusing on just about everything except what’s actually important.
Lions, and Tigers, and Progressives – Oh My!
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on August, 1 2019I recently experienced something that is the stuff of many people’s nightmares.
White Fragility Is Real My Friends
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on July, 25 2019This was a very challenging article to write and I am going to be super vulnerable with you all, so bear with me … and I invite you to join me in a brave conversation.
I recently heard this quote on the radio: “There’s only one thing more powerful than white fear and that’s white guilt.” That statement left me questioning for days. “Could that be true,” I wondered? What does my white fear look like? What does my white guilt look like?
Being True To Christ But Rejecting Christianity
Column by EbonyJanice Moore on July, 18 2019A shift in my geographical location was the catalyst for a life-altering shift in my theological truth system. I was in Kenya, East Africa for 10 weeks in the summer of 2013 on a missions/educational trip when I began to ask myself about the introduction of Christianity to African people, most specifically black people in America as a result of slavery. This was the first time I had ever asked myself why do I believe what I say I believe.
All The World A Thin Place
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on July, 11 2019The Celtic tradition has a concept called “thin spaces”, geographical locations where the veil between heaven and earth, the world we live in and the realm of the Divine, seems to be remarkably thin.
Growing Up in a White Male God’s World
Column by Christena Cleveland on July, 4 2019But once I turned my attention to the problem of God’s maleness, I realized that I didn’t just hate white Christ, I also hated male Christ. A god who is exclusively white and male, or even predominantly white and male, is never going to be safe for people of color and/or women. Indeed, white male god is intersectional; we must be liberated from both its whiteness and maleness.
Living Christs of Touch
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on June, 27 2019If your life were ending and you were given the chance to write a few words to encapsulate its essence, what would you say? The story wouldn’t have to be historical, or literally true, but it would need to offer an authentic window into your soul and the heart of your heart.
Looking, Leaning, and Leading Forward
Column by Brian McLaren on June, 20 2019In two previous columns: How I Got Here and What Am I Now?, I shared a bit about my own backstory and where I am now as a progressive Christian. In this third column, I’d like to share a bit about what I see and hope for progressive Christianity looking forward.
The Concepts of the Virgin Birth and Physical Resurrection
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on June, 13 2019Both the virgin birth and physical resurrection are the pillars of the Christian faith, and many Christians struggle with both concepts.
The Future Church: Over to You
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on June, 6 2019Armed with fifteen years of exposure to critical contemporary Christian scholarship, the congregation’s leaders, rather than fire me, embraced the opportunity to explore what church beyond belief might look like. It has been a bumpy ride at times; there is no doubt about that. Still, the work was important, and we have proven that a church built on the values of liberal Christianity neither undermines nor requires belief in a supernatural, interventionist, theistic god called God.
Joshua and “The Longest Day”
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on May, 30 2019If people today know anything about the book of Joshua, it’s likely to be just one story: “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.” But Joshua asking God to “stop the sun in the sky” is probably a close second – and has clearly had a more dramatic influence on world history (and not in a good way).
The Moral Imperative of Climate Activism
Column by Jennifer Berit and Skylar Wilson on May, 23 2019There are countless other examples in the Bible that point to the human – earth relationship as a symbiotic mother and child.
What Am I Now?
Column by Brian McLaren on May, 16 2019In my previous piece, I shared a bit about my past. This piece turns to the present. I’ve just begun work on two books, the second of which is tentatively entitled, Do I Stay Christian? As I sketch out the shape and trajectory of the book, I’m thinking more deeply about why I still identify as Christian and what I think Christian can and in fact must come to mean in the decades ahead.
The Wild Christ
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on May, 9 2019The wild calls. That which we associate with the wild are those ‘spontaneities’ found in ever form of existence in the natural world, that which is uncontrolled by human dominance. Wild is that feral autonomy of the more-than-human world with an agency and feathered intelligence of its own. The wild flares forth in the numinous powers of the psyche, mirroring the wild and raw powers of the universe. The wild is pure nature, that which is completely uncontrolled by human consciousness or dominance.
Time for a New American Dream
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on May, 2 2019Now that we can just barely view the pomp and circumstance of Easter in our rearview mirrors, I’d like to talk a little about Easter. Not that Easter; not the Easter egg hunts, Easter hats, and shouts of “He is risen” kind of Easter; I want to talk about the whole of the Easter story, which reminds me that the American dream is a dream built on the back of a system of domination.
Shadow Work
Column by Toni Reynolds on April, 25 2019Over the last few weeks I’ve had several ideas for articles. One of them felt so full of energy that I stayed awake until 3am writing. I’ …
Review of: Science and Spiritual Practices by Rupert Sheldrake
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on April, 18 2019Science and Spirituality need each other. This has always been the case—from Aristotle (who concludes his classic work on Physics with positing an Unmoved Mover) to Aquinas (who fought the fundamentalists of his day about the value of bringing science, namely Aristotle, and the scientific method of his day, namely scholasticism, into the world of faith).
How I Got Here
Column by Brian McLaren on April, 11 2019Suddenly, I saw in a new light the violence of the modern era, from colonialism to Stalinism to Naziism to nuclear war to the environmental crisis. Smart people, armed with excessive and un-self-critical confidence derived from their absolutized ideologies, could commit unspeakable atrocities without having second thoughts.
Love, America and The Middle Way
Column by Joran Slane Oppelt on April, 4 2019A teenager in a red “Make America Great Again” hat, face-to-face with a drumming Native American elder on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial…
For all the coverage and commentary we now have of the Lincoln Memorial encounter, there are many moments we’re not shown. We will never see what was moving in the hearts of those two men as they faced one another, waiting for the other to back down, watching their expressions melt and change while feeling the heat and pressure of the mob at their back.
Super Natural Sacraments of Spring
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on March, 28 2019The progressive Christian practice, I believe, is founded on my (our) willingness to listen for and co-create the new story. And let me be clear about this word, “new.” I don’t mean the next bright and shiny object that allows me to toss the frayed one into the landfill. I mean “new,” as in emerging, fertile, and arriving with a willingness to acknowledge what has been before now.
10 Ways to Help Church Services to Bring People to the Mystery of God:
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on March, 21 2019The Church is dying. Specifically, Christianity in most Western countries is rapidly diminishing. Some 7-8,000 churches close their doors every year in the U.S. – about 150-200 every week. In 1966, there were 600 Catholic seminaries in America. 189 remain. 1000 Southern Baptist congregations close every year with half of them predicted to close by 2030.
Re-Wilding Christianity, an Interview with Rev. Matt Syrdal, Church of the Lost Walls
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on March, 14 2019I recently had the opportunity to speak with Rev. Matt Syrdal about his theological journey and his quest to re-wild Christianity. Matt is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian church (USA), founder and lead guide of WilderSoul and Church of Lost Walls, and co-founder of Seminary of the Wild. Matt speaks at conferences and guides immersive nature-based experiences around the country. In his years of studying ancient Christian Rites of Initiation, world religions, anthropology, rites-of-passage and eco- psychology Matt seeks to re-wild what it means to be human. His work weaves in myth and ceremony in nature as a way for people to enter into conversation with the storied world of which they are a part.
Why Separation of Church & State Matters More Than Ever
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on March, 7 2019We’re in the middle a major identity crisis in our country – and a lot of it has to do with our collective failure to remember (or in some cases outright deny) that most of our founders were highly suspicious of religion. As you read this, theologically conservative Christians are escalating their efforts to revise history and take concerted action in consolidating their political power and reinforcing their prejudices with the force of law.
Lost in Translation
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on February, 28 2019For many progressive Christians, our ability to remain in the communities we love is dependent upon our willingness to translate what we hear, sing, and say on Sunday morning. Much of the “content” of a weekly service continues to use the language of traditional Christianity and privilege the very rituals and artifacts which progressives no longer accept literally.
Part III: Eucharistic Prayers Celebrating the Embodiment of Presence
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on February, 21 2019Let me begin by restating my belief that a corporate liturgical text (be it a eucharistic prayer, a collect, or a hymn) needs to be a Wisdom text. This means it is a prayer with the capacity to foster the soul’s growth, helping her to realize that she is an utterly unique expression of Being that is present as Boundless Love.