Letting Go (Death) is Hard but Practice Makes it (a Little) Easier

Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on January, 11 2024

When I think about my parents dying, emotions are quick to the surface, tears arise, and my heart squeezes. Death is one thing we all experience, and yet, it is the scariest, most traumatic thing we face as humans.

Beyond Now

Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on June, 1 2023

If 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.

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXXVII – Thesis #11, Life After Death (continued), Survival is the Essence of Life

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 29 2016

It was in the Amazon rain forest that I first discovered just how deeply survival dominates every living thing. Sunlight and water are the prizes which guarantee the survival …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXXVI – Thesis #11, Life After Death

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 22 2016

“The traditional understanding of life after death in Western Christianity was created on the premise of human uniqueness. Human beings were understood to be a special creation, …

Re-Creating Easter Part I: The Background

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 17 2015

It was the noted author Jim Bishop, more than a generation ago, who first created a series of books that chronicled the minute-by-minute narratives of what turned out to …

Resurrection – A Reality or a Pious Dream? Part III The Witness of Paul, Continued

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 7 2015

After Easter we opened a new unit of columns designed to study exactly what the Bible says about Jesus’ resurrection. We noted that while resurrection is assumed in every …

Part XLVII Matthew: The Meaning of the Passion opens into the Meaning of Resurrection

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 9 2015

The drama of the cross races towards its conclusion. It is a story that runs counter to the cultural expectations. Shaped by the “Servant” figure, drawn from II Isaiah, …

Part XLIII Matthew – The Passion Narrative: Discovering the Liturgical Outline

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 12 2015

In Matthew’s story of the Passion of Jesus, based as it is on Mark’s original written passion narrative, we can discover by a close analysis the outline of a …

William Maurice, i.e. Willie Mo, I Baptize You

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 5 2015

It was a strangely emotional moment for me. I was in All Saint’s Church in Austin, Texas, holding in my arms a nine months old baby boy, preparing …

Part XXXV Matthew – Getting Back in Touch with our Source

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 1 2015

I return this week to our study of Matthew’s gospel after a rather long hiatus, which allowed me the opportunity to address other pressing topics such as my visit …