Just War?
Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on January, 16 2020You simply can’t fully follow Jesus if you aren’t willing to be political and stick out your own neck, challenging the hypocritical power structures and leaders on behalf of the oppressed.”
Jesus’ Women Disciples
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on January, 9 2020
Ever since human beings began to relate their experience to one another, it has proven difficult to differentiate the facts of the story from the teller’s interpretation …
Why The Church Must Die – Part 2
Column by Rev. Jessica Shine on January, 2 2020Churchianity must die and it is dying. I know, that probably hurt a little to read. If it makes you feel better, it hurt to write it too. However, the sooner we accept that death is part of the cycle, we can shift into midwifing a new movement of the Jesus story.
Feeling Compassionate
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on December, 26 2019Today, as I write this, I am feeling compassion for the white fragility out there. There’s a lot of grief connected to it. Yes, something is dying, friends. Because it must. White supremacy must die so we can all be transformed, so we can all be resurrected.
10 Things Smart Progressive Churches Know About Worship, Part 1
Column by Rev. Fran Pratt on December, 19 2019I have been a worship leader, liturgist, and musician in various church contexts for nearly 20 years, and I have ideas about how we, who are re-imagining faith and church, can proceed.
Imagine That!
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on December, 12 2019Last Spring, Greta Thunberg’s statement to the European Parliament included the phrase, “Everyone and everything needs to change.” It’s become a mantra for me: Everyone, Everything, Me, Changing.
The Power of Liminal Spaces In Changing Times
Column by Kaitlin Curtice on December, 5 2019Many of us who grew up in fundamental spaces were taught to live in dualities: black and white, in and out, saved and unsaved. In those spaces, there isn’t liminality. There aren’t many safe spaces to ask really hard questions, to show anger toward injustice, or even to grieve when we need to grieve. We are taught to brush it off, smile, move on, trust God, and believe.
Why do we use Christ as a synonym for Jesus?
Column by Brian McLaren on November, 28 2019Janet – thanks so much for this question. I’ve been pondering this question too … for decades!
Let’s start by saying the obvious: Christ isn’t Jesus’s last name. It’s a title, like doctor, reverend, president, or governor.
How Progressive Christianity Can Save the World
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on November, 21 2019Christianity is inherently political. The faithful path taught and demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth was arguably just as much a political vision for the future of the Jewish people as much as it was a path to spiritual salvation.
The Courage to See
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on November, 14 2019What an existential conundrum it is for us human beings as we long for someone to see us for the truth of what we are, while at the same time fearing to be seen for the truth of what we think we are and that others might perceive. A very tiring dance.
A New State Religion Called Love
Column by Rev. Jaqueline J. Lewis, Ph.D. on November, 7 2019The Christmas story is the greatest story ever told. It’s why we’re still telling it two millennia later. We’re telling it all around the world. The story of God who loves the world enough to come all the way down to be present in the world, not as a soldier, but as a teeny, tiny, vulnerable infant.
Rethinking Forgiveness
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on October, 31 2019“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” in Luke 23:34 has always troubled me, because it is the first of the seven utterances by Jesus on the cross. I’ve been taught that the act of forgiveness is a sign of spiritual mettle and grace under fire. And, as an African American, the act of forgiveness appears to be our immediate go-to place in the face of unimaginable racial horror done to us.
Why The Church Must Die – Part 1
Column by Rev. Jessica Shine on October, 24 2019The church isn’t just dying. In many parts of the United States, it is already dead. At least, its impact is. The pews are still warm, the offering plates clanking with coins, and the bodies are present. However the church itself is wasting away and has become irrelevant.
Love Water
Column by Toni Reynolds on October, 17 2019Everything that God called forth comes from the Water, everything we know in our world today was created except for the Water, it was already here. Even among scientists there is continued debate about where Water came from, how it got here. No matter the angle, Water’s presence in our reality is a precious, life-giving mystery.
How much should we teach our children about the Bible?
Column by Cindy Wang Brandt on October, 10 2019Some of the most egregious acts in civilization find their justification in Scripture, from genocide to slavery to deadly homophobia. History proves that the Bible, read with nefarious hermeneutics, in the hands of powerful figures can cause catastrophe.
No, This Isn’t For You
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on October, 3 2019It is a sad thing to close the doors of a church. Hard as it is for the congregation’s members, however, the event has a far deeper, though often unseen and uncalculated, impact on the health of the community in which that congregation was practicing its increasingly irrelevant faith. As churches age and weaken, their focus necessarily turns toward survival and away from the world outside their doors.
Jesus: A Mutation of Consciousness – Part 2
Column by Joran Slane Oppelt on September, 26 2019For most Christians, the question is, “Can you strip Jesus of his supernatural powers and still achieve salvation through Christ?” If we take the Godhead out of Jesus, what are we left with? Is there some other element that we enter into or move through by knowing him?
Calling on Warriors for Beauty
Column by Jennifer Berit and Skylar Wilson on September, 19 2019So what does it mean to be a warrior for beauty? In order to understand it, we must first look at what beauty is, and then we must turn toward what it means to be a warrior.
Let the Church die, here’s why
Column by Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt on September, 12 2019My assessment is that Christianity and its Church can either join the flow of justice or flail against its changing tides. This flow is happening with or without you. Spirit is moving, creating a path of love, equality, and peacemaking in its wake. If you are of the mind to jump in to this divine current, then I have several points of advice for you.
Wild Courtship-Primal Speech
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on September, 5 2019All nature was designed for revelation. At least that’s what indigenous peoples, the Israelites, our church Fathers, and the Celts believed. Jesus himself, like Moses and the prophets Elijah and John the Baptizer, strode deep into the heart of the world, fasting for a vision—revelation.
Rugged Individuality and the Hermeneutic of Love
Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on August, 29 2019It seems to me that people who have a well developed and healthy spirituality will resist the concept of tribalism. While it is true that tribalism was once an evolutionary necessity for survival, I have to believe that in modern times we should recognize that it is actually quite ridiculous as it is so rooted rooted in the illusion that some people are more valuable than others.
Two Bible Stories for our Endangered Times
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on August, 22 2019“What are a Bible Story or Stories that are especially pressing for today’s world?” Clearly there are many but I have chosen one from the Hebrew Bible and one from the Christian Bible.
Jesus: A Mutation of Consciousness – Part 1
Column by Joran Slane Oppelt on August, 15 2019We know enough about politics to know when an idea’s time has come. We know enough about the principles that move and motivate people. They are the same today as they were 2,000 years ago. They are those universal principles found in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: fear, safety, community, belonging, status, esteem and actualization (another word for “becoming” or, possibly, “salvation”).
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.