Church Life

Dear Church: Is the Gospel Second to Power?

February 23, 2021

How can a community of believers maintain that strength if the truth is buried for the sake of power, if the Gospel plays second fiddle to money, and if appearances matter more than the spiritual condition of those coming through the door?

Jesus Invited Women to Take Their Place

Tiffany Bluhm

February 16, 2021

Church Life, Practical Justice, Women

Throughout history, women overwhelmingly have been silenced when they’ve had a truth to tell, so much so that it felt detrimental to speak up. A waste of words. Yet Jesus, who came to make all things right, who came to overthrow power structures that demean and oppress, gave women a voice when others didn’t.

Silence: The Facilitator of Clergy Abuse

Robyn Dyba

February 15, 2021

Church Life, Practical Justice, Women

The epidemic of clergy misconduct is not only the abuse itself, but the Silence that enables the abuse to continue to exponentially harm people. While perpetrators will always exist, the damage they do can be diminished and halted with a way to break through the Silence that protects power.

Sunday Words on Weekdays

Marianne Abel-Lipschutz

February 15, 2021

Church Life, Family and Parenting, General

The loved one is in prison, the hospital, hospice, quarantine, or serving abroad. Some extended families face all of these circumstances at once right now. Yet the scriptures don’t avoid the expectation to feel joy.

How to Do Church During a Pandemic

Andrew Lee

February 15, 2021

Church Life, General

Especially during a time when it feels like we are all suffering, when no one is really “healthy” and giving out of an abundance of energy, time, or resources, I battle two conflicting motivations.

Where Do We Go from Here?

Diana Oestreich

January 18, 2021

Church Life, Peace & Nonviolence, Race

Our country is aching to see the strength it takes to accept responsibility for more than our own individual acts. To be wrong, and admit it. To be the first to apologize. To accept the hard truth that we’ve sown bitterness and are reaping violence. Violence doesn’t start in our fists, it is born in our hearts.

Revolutionary Love Is The Way To Racial Healing

Michael-Ray Mathews

January 18, 2021

Church Life, Interfaith, Race

Within our denominations, grassroots justice organizations, organizing networks, and movement partners, we have engaged in the best of our sacred traditions to pursue a vision of Beloved Community, of an America that is yet to be, of a nation where ancient breaches are repaired.

Why I Cannot Stay: A Letter to My Church

Grace Chin Huang

January 13, 2021

Church Life, General, Politics

There is no use pointing fingers. That is not them. That is us. We dragged Jesus—the one who died for us—into our tryst with Trump, while the church sat by with a nod and a shrug.

‘Not Real Christians’: Communal Confession for a Faith Divided

Michelle Reyes

January 12, 2021

Church Life, Politics, Theology

We must still raise our voices to denounce Christian pursuit of power and boldly denounce cycles of violence perpetuated in the name of Jesus. We also seek that justice be given to those involved in last week’s events. Nevertheless, we can still own and apologize to a watching world the sins that our fellow siblings have committed.

Who Has Your Trousers? Keeping Company in the Darkness

Diana Gruver

January 12, 2021

Books, Church Life, Family and Parenting

I’ve spent time over the last few years researching people in church history who struggled with depression, but intertwined with their stories are those of their friends and family members who kept company with them in the dark.

Dear Church: Is the Gospel Second to Power?

Jesus Invited Women to Take Their Place

Silence: The Facilitator of Clergy Abuse

Sunday Words on Weekdays

How to Do Church During a Pandemic

Where Do We Go from Here?

Revolutionary Love Is The Way To Racial Healing

Why I Cannot Stay: A Letter to My Church

‘Not Real Christians’: Communal Confession for a Faith Divided

Who Has Your Trousers? Keeping Company in the Darkness

Tired of Looking for the Exit

Come to Me All You Who are Angry

Seeking Other Seas

My Breast Cancer Revealed a Mothering God

We Shouldn’t Know Their Names