A Grown-Up God for Times Like These
Column by Rev. Jaqueline J. Lewis, Ph.D. on April, 2 2020I was a Christian; I am a Christian. But it became clear to me that God speaks more than one language. Because God wants to be known, I came to believe, by any means necessary, God speaks to the hearts of humans in the ways they can hear, inviting us to come close to be seen, known and loved.
COVID-19 And The World Community
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on March, 26 2020In a responsible response to the coronavirus outbreak, also known as COVID-19, church and worship services across the globe are canceled. Traditional Bible study has gone online. Sermons are watched on Zoom, and old videos of singing church choirs have popped up in my inbox. Our global engagement with one another right now is social distancing while staying connected, revealing our acts of spiritual communion.
Faith and Fate
Column by Toni Reynolds on March, 19 2020The below offering was inspired by a conversation with my favorite Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer and the late, great Peter Tosh. Thanks for inviting the Selah, Rabbi. Rest in Power, Peter.
Breaking Free From Supremacy Theology, Part One
Column by Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt on March, 12 2020Even though my context is theologically progressive, I am entangled in supremacy theology. I need to break free. I define supremacy theology as any theological framework that is propped up by systems of oppression.
Parenting the Church
Column by Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft on March, 5 2020Parents and caregivers, you are on the frontlines of the revolution. You are raising humans that will perpetuate white supremacy, or be actively anti-racist. You are raising humans that can break down walls rather than build them. So stop thinking your praying has ended, or your activism decreased.
10 Things Smart Progressive Churches Know About Worship, Part 2
Column by Rev. Fran Pratt on February, 27 2020This article is a continuation of : 10 Things Smart Progressive Churches Know About Worship, Part 1.
To Be and Not To Be: Wrestling with the Christian “I Am” and the Buddhist “I Am Not”
Column by Joran Slane Oppelt on February, 20 2020Modern scientists have discovered what the mystics have known to be true for centuries. Reality is an illusion. Atoms are primarily made of vast regions of empty space, objects are fundamentally non-objects but rather waves and shadow, and there is a continuous energetic exchange happening between you and those around you at all times.
Queen’s Dream
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on February, 13 2020Of course, it is not just a racial issue that hammers at the foundations of our social order. Or a gender identity or sexuality issue. Or political, social, or familial. It is an issue that is experienced by all of us and that undermines our self-confidence, and our willingness to be vulnerable, our ability to see what is really before us
Holding Space for Spiritual Transformation
Column by Skylar Wilson on February, 6 2020
“New personality types are created during social and spiritual crises of religious, political, or economic origin.” ~Otto RankOne hundred years ago, as the world was …
Progressive Christianity, Earth Survival and the Wisdom of Thomas Aquinas
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on January, 30 2020Many people, if they hear the name Thomas Aquinas at all, may not feel that he has anything to say to today’s “progressive” religious and post-religious movement. They would be wrong; dead wrong.
Christian Imagination and the Return to Myth
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on January, 23 2020As an indigenous Messiah, Jesus was one who listened deeply to the song of Creation, to the living dialogue that is in the beginning, the heartbeat of the universe itself. In this sense, Jesus was the mythteller of the community he was forming around his own ministry of power, healing, and renewal.
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 2020Ever 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 of …
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.