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26-50 of 925 « ‹ Page 2 of 37 › »
  • “Liminal Grief”

    Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on October, 22 2020

    As the leaves turn color and fall into the ground, and the migratory patterns and bird songs slowly shapeshift into a dirge, as the sap sinks into its source, we might listen closely to our bodies and psyche. If we allow ourselves the space to pay attention we can feel the shift towards the liminal time of fall. Fall in-between the erotic vigor and embodiment of summer, and the pale, dormant latency of winter.

     
    I keep hearing about “”Centering prayer” but I’m not sure what this is exactly. Can you give me a definition or where I can read …

    Answered by Skylar Wilson
  • Racism – How Did We Get Here

    Column by Rev. Dr. Velda Love on October, 15 2020

    The documentary Africa’s Great Civilizations is an in-depth study of the world’s first humans, the cradle of civilization, and the birthplace of the Christian religion. Episode one begins a journey through anthropological and scientific discoveries where viewers learn that Africa is the genetic home of all currently living humanity.

    Do you think that Jesus believed he was the Son of God/Son of Man (Daniel 7) and that he physically cured people of diseases and serious disabilities.? If …

    Answered by Dr. Carl Krieg
  • Jesus and the Void

    Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on October, 8 2020

    We all are painfully aware that we in the US are living in a time of extreme violence and anxiety. What we may not know is that Jesus lived in such a time as well, and the parallels are quite striking.

    How do today’s elections compare to Bishop Spong’s thoughts on the 2012 elections?

    Answered by Bishop John Shelby Spong
  • Time to be Radical

    Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on October, 1 2020

    Often when we think of radicals today, we think of religious extremists or we associate a negative connotation with it. But the word radical actually means far-reaching fundamental transformation. And fundamental transformation is exactly what we need today, individually and collectively.

    A friend of mine recommended the book, “The Case for Christ,” by Lee Strobel. Have you read the book and if so, is it a good read?

    Answered by Rev. David M. Felten
  • “Confronting Politicus Distractus”

    Column by Rev. David M. Felten on September, 24 2020

    Recently, a half-dozen young people in our small town organized a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration. The march was seen by some as an intrusion of threatening other-worldly politics into our predominantly (99.8%) white town and riled up a lot of emotional responses on social media.

    As an active UCC member, I was looking forward to reading Dr. Dornhauer’s response. I came away disappointed, however. Though I agree that certainly there are sociological …

    Answered by Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer
  • A White Man Makes the Case for Reparations, Part 2

    Column by Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer on September, 17 2020

    When I write as a white man about calling for reparations, this is the source and origin of the damages for  which we bear responsibility and for which we seek repair. The question I want to ask in this essay is this: how far removed from that source are we. Is it a distant relic of the past from which we are now utterly disconnected

     

    Does God have to heal all the people who ask me to pray for them?

    Answered by Rev. Lauren Van Ham
  • When Everything Becomes Sacred

    Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on September, 10 2020

    We could describe the pain we’re in right now as the colonial anesthesia wearing off.  In epic fashion, events of the past many months have connected all the threads of the story: white supremacy and racism, detention centers and prisons, militarism and policing, the wealth of a few at the expense of  essential workers, broken healthcare, hurricanes, derechos, and wildfires, and certainly others.

    I was really inspired by Rep. Alexia Ocasio-Cortez’s response to the insults of Rep. Ted Yoho, but I was equally disappointed by Yoho’s pseudo-apology. What …

    Answered by Brian McLaren
  • So… if we care, what do we say?

    Column by Brian McLaren on September, 3 2020

    Recently, I received an email from a reader who asked, “Hi Brian. I would love to know your thoughts on speaking with close family members who are active or retired police officers during this time. I’m seeing so many black activists and white allies calling for the police force to be defunded and dismantled.

     

    I have been an on and off member of a church for 15 years. The church is Assemblies of God, but the pastor is more liberal in his …

    Answered by Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft
  • Can Imagination Save Us?

    Column by Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft on August, 27 2020

    I’m thinking a lot about this moment.  Under 70 days until the most important Presidential Election arguably of all time, close to six months into an unprecedented global pandemic, increasing racial uprisings, increasing inequalities, anxieties, looming questions, delayed and potent grief. 

    I work in an Episcopal church with Holy Eucharist at the majority of services. The liturgy includes phrases such as “this is holy food” and “come to the …

    Answered by Rev. Brandan Robertson
  • Humility: The Key To Our Salvation

    Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on August, 20 2020

    One of the most fundamental postures of any mature spirituality is that of humility, and yet on both the left and the right it seems that humility is always in short supply. Throughout human history we have craved to know the answers to the big questions that seem to endlessly loom above us: Why are we here? Who are we? Where are we going? Is there a purpose to any of this?

    One thing I fail to see addressed anywhere is the mayhem of blacks upon blacks in cities such as Chicago. Do black lives matter only when death is …

    Answered by Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer
  • A White Man Makes the Case for Reparations, Part 1

    Column by Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer on August, 13 2020

    Of all the things white allies were willing to activate for, through decades of civil rights movements, reparations were the one thing that even the most committed white leaders have avoided talking about, much less fully committing to.

    What can we as a nation learn from the aftermath of George Floyd’s death?

    Answered by Rev. Irene Monroe
  • The “Good Trouble” of John Lewis

    Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on August, 6 2020

    John Lewis, the ‘conscience of Congress’, preached a lived theology and activism of “good trouble.” Good trouble was the work of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and it was an expression of Lewis’s faith. The immediacy of his “good trouble” was heard in his jeremiads, inviting all to action. “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” Lewis repeatedly said throughout his lifetime.

    People say “rest in peace” after someone has died. But, do people really get to rest after death?

    Answered by Toni Reynolds
  • Apocalypse Strong

    Column by Toni Reynolds on July, 30 2020

    In my own movement through Christianity I was petrified of the idea of the rapture. The ever-imposing threat of the Apocalypse. It seemed like every year produced mountains of evidence that the plagues had been unleashed, and the prophecies of Revelation were being fulfilled. With some distance from the center of that particular flavor of Christianity, I have noticed that the world is always ending.

    I am a Progressive Christian and have been so for 7-8 years (I’m 82). Two questions have weighed heavily on me and I learn as much as possible …

    Answered by Rev. Roger Wolsey
  • A Call to Listen, Lament, Learn & Love.

    Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on July, 23 2020

    I write in the context of the twin global realities of Covid-19; and the increasing rejection of toxic masculinity, patriarchy, and white supremacy – including a growing rejection of religions which are perceived as promoting and maintaining those poisons.

    Not long ago I discovered the facts provided by Rev. Spong about the Bible being interpreted in its correct historical context. It was information that I knew was …

    Answered by Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt
  • Breaking Free From Supremacy Theology, Part Two

    Column by Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt on July, 16 2020

    White supremacy, in its many systemic forms, continues to keep us all bound. Pandemic or not, the work of Liberation through anti-racism and decolonization continues. For people of faith, this work includes breaking free from supremacy informed theology.

     
    I enjoyed the column by Dr. [Thew] Forrester 
    Living Christs of …

    Answered by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D.
  • Common Ground

    Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on July, 9 2020

    A democracy is only able to function and prosper if its diverse citizenry shares a common sense of what is good. A political common good, however, is made possible by the presence of common ground; this ground is the Reality of Being, the Essence of all that is. Without spiritual common ground, which is Being, the fragile political common good is a chimera, evident in the cultural blindness to and destruction of the beauty of George Floyd.

    I would be interested to learn if you think people will return to church and prayer – in a time of chaos and crisis? Do you think people …

    Answered by Rev. Fran Pratt
  • Even in 2020, Gratitude is my Religion

    Column by Rev. Fran Pratt on July, 2 2020

    It seems to me that, now, in the fourth month of the pandemic, we need to reach down deep for spiritual, emotional, and contemplative resources. The best one I know is gratitude.

     

    In looking at how the Jews see the Adam and Eve story – that it was a story of taking responsibility and moving out of innocence etc. How …

    Answered by Dr. Carl Krieg
  • Biblical Billionaires and the Taming of Jesus

    Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on June, 25 2020

    My initial intent in writing this column was to look at how the early church lost the message of Jesus, but both the pandemic and climate change seemed more urgent, demanding immediate attention. Then I realized that lurking behind all of them was the dark but pervasive shadow of society’s rich and powerful, those who expand and protect their interests at any cost.

    The only religion I was exposed to as a child was Pentecostal. I never subscribed to it, tried several denominations, never felt any connection. The hell and …

    Answered by Jennifer Wilson
  • Playing for Love in the Time of COVID

    Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on June, 18 2020

    The world has shifted on its axis since my last article appeared in Progressing Spirit. As I write, the number of COVID-19 deaths has passed 400,000, a number that shrinks from the reality experienced around the globe. As countries attempt to reopen their economies, anti-racism protests are sweeping the globe. Immune to neither challenge, we in Canada are little more than a quiet simmer when compared to the legitimate rage being expressed across America and around the world.

     

    As a scholar of Thomas Aquinas can you help me understand his teleological argument for his belief in the existence of God? 

     

    Answered by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox
  • The Powerful Medicine of the (Divine) Feminine

    Column by Jennifer Wilson on June, 11 2020

    I’m really interested in how we, and by we I mean seekers, teachers, preachers, clergy, laymen, mystics, atheists and everything in between, think and talk about the divine feminine.

     

    When people say I want to walk the way of Jesus what should that mean?

    Answered by Rev. Matthew Syrdal
  • Covid-19 and Climate Change: Why Are We Here and Where are we Headed?

    Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on June, 4 2020

    One of the “ultimate questions” humans like to pose is this:  Why are we here?  

    This might seem to be a particularly appropriate question to ask in a time of the coronavirus plague when so much is becoming uprooted, when so many are afraid and suffering and dying. 

    I’m a politically blue kind of guy living in a very red state. My religious convictions tell me that I have to try to work at getting laws …

    Answered by Rev. Mark Sandlin
  • Let It Fall: Collapse and Ecological Metanoia

    Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on May, 28 2020

    For us faith leaders the problem is much deeper than simply ‘green-washing’ Christianity. Our habits of inattention and self-survival stand trial. The “cultural self” has become really good at shutting off the valve to feeling, that organ of perception connecting our own hearts with the heartbeat of a living World.

    I have never been as disappointed in the church as I am today. The church should and must be open to the public. For the Church not to …

    Answered by Rev. Dr. Velda Love
  • The Strangeness of Jesus, Equality, and Voting in the U.S.

    Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on May, 21 2020

    It is difficult to read the teachings of Jesus and come away thinking that some people deserve to have more privileges than others. We are not only suppose to love our neighbors, but we are also suppose to love our enemies – equally.

    Do you, like me, have great sympathy for the third servant in the parable of the talents? What do you think that this parable is meant to say …

    Answered by Rev. Jessica Shine
  • We Will Never Be The Same – A COVID-19 Reality

    Column by Rev. Dr. Velda Love on May, 14 2020

    How will people of faith show up?  Will the knee jerk reactions of shock and awe at the news that African Americans are dying at alarming rates elicit advocacy and activism for long-term strategies to correct structural and systemic injustices?  Will people who claim to be Christians consider themselves “woke” because they write a check in support of a food pantry?

    What does Bishop John Shelby Spong mean by “love wastefully”?

    Answered by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine
  • Why The Church Must Die – Part 3

    Column by Rev. Jessica Shine on May, 7 2020

    In two previous articles I’ve shared why the church must die, and why I believe it is or has been dying. Some of my fellow readers (People of Color, LGBTQ, differently-abled) have seen what I’ve seen, felt what I’ve felt. Others have been offended or triggered, mostly well-meaning folks of privilege who don’t want things to change. That’s just it – don’t confuse the Church with the church you’re familiar with.

     

    After reading near death experience reports, and the all-encompassing love that seems to accompany folks in a near death experience, I am wondering why we need a …

    Answered by Rev. Lauren Van Ham
26-50 of 925 « ‹ Page 2 of 37 › »

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