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.

Wild Courtship-Primal Speech

Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on September, 5 2019

All 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.

A New Template for Religion: A Conversation with Michael Morwood, Part 3 – Worship, Prayer, & the Other Side of the Story

Column by Rev. David M. Felten on November, 9 2017

What follows in interview form is the final installment of three columns inspired by a presentation Michael Morwood offered at the Common Dreams Conference in Brisbane, Queensland, in 2016. In this final segment, Morwood offers a new perspective on worship and prayer – along with some concluding thoughts on religion in general and recommendations on a way forward.

Resurrection: A Reality or a Pious Dream, Part IX Luke: Physical, Non-Physical or Both?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 25 2015

Today, I want to focus on the ambiguity found in the conflicting aspects of Luke’s two resurrection stories in more detail and in more depth. It will help …

“Resurrection” A Reality or a Pious Dream? Part I

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 23 2015

On Easter Sunday, a couple of weeks ago now, I was in my parish church, St. Peter’s in Morristown, New Jersey. I was not alone. Into that church, at …

A Meditation on Patriotism in a Changing World

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 7 2014

Patriotism is a powerful force that manifests itself in a variety of ways. One is extreme nationalism. We see that in the behavior of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, …

Part XXI Matthew – Yom Kippur and Sacrificial Blood

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 12 2014

The primary Christian mantra incorporated into our hymns, prayers and sermons is some variation of the phrase: “Jesus died for my sins!” It comes out of a Christian definition …

Part XIV Matthew – The Sermon on the Mount: Sinai Revisited

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 20 2014

Matthew is portraying Jesus as the New Moses who went to the top of a new mountain to deliver a new interpretation of the Torah. He is not a …

Harrisena Community Church in Lake George New York: A Story Worth Telling

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 15 2011

This church was built in 1866 by John J. Harris to be used as an Episcopal summer chapel serving vacationers in the Lake George, New York area.  In 1869 it was …