We’ve seen throughout the centuries and with the advancement of technologies like radio, then TV, then streaming, cable, podcasts, etc. that someone, a person or people, drives the motivation and the charisma of a faith space. They may be preachers, directors, musicians, televangelists, or lay leaders. There is something about
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In the wake of mass shooting tragedies that have become all too frequent in our country, a familiar echo emerges — thoughts and prayers. We see them directed toward the grieving families of victims, and the survivors who will live with the impact of gun violence for the rest of
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That’s when the name-badge on the chaplain’s neatly pressed shirt triggered a flashback to a conversation I’d shared with another chaplain some 20 years before. You see, this wasn’t my first stent in a psychiatric hospital, so much as a replay of a residential eating disorder program I'd undertaken my
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“Advent is a season of waiting.” This is what we say every year, acknowledging the significance of this time before Christmas. As we wait for the birth of our savior, we consider the world we live in. We study Scripture. We prepare our surroundings and ourselves for what is to
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In ten years of ministry and nearly 40 years of church attendance (with a loving reminder that we Millennials are, in fact, middle aged), I’ve heard plenty of angles on the Christmas story. The funny. The saccharine. The mysterious. Preached by folks of a variety of races, ages, theological frameworks,
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On October 8, 2022, the Earlham School of Religion hosted their annual pastors’ conference on Zoom and at their campus in Richmond, IN. With the theme Disability in Ministry, the conference showcased speakers with experience in disability as church members and leaders and gave practical advice for how churches could
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It’s that time of year! Spirits and souls make their ways to our imagination through all things Halloween or All Hallows Eve. But what would it look like if we decommercialized this season and lived into spirituality more? The work of justice stems from a Spirit that moves us and
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Before arriving to the 11th Assembly on the World Council of Churches, I had no expectations or really any idea as to what I was about to attend. “Reconciliation” and “unity” were heavily sprinkled throughout the merchandise and materials we received, and those words were heard and seen more than
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As we see, yet again, mass shootings sprinkled over the US, we see, yet again, the outpouring of grief, anger, prayer, and confusion. We experience a country that holds to a death dealing ideology that it is our god-given right to bear arms. We experience white supremacy manifested in the
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During Holy Week, I can’t tell you how many photos, portraits, paintings, digital graphics I saw of Jesus with a 6-pack. Not a 6-pack of beer. Not a 6-pack of Coke. BUT BULGING ABS along with rippling muscles, flowing conditioned hair, and amazing quads. There on a cross is a
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