After years of distance from the Church, a long season of doubt, and what I can only call spiritual exhaustion, I found myself sitting once again in the sanctuary where my faith began. I had returned to a small, quiet Evening Prayer service at a parish I had once belonged
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Regardless of our colliding political beliefs, most Americans would agree this country is experiencing a crisis of identity. Political and social structures once considered dependable, have lost our trust. Ideals about democracy are more fluid than ever. Nothing is as we once thought it would be. Our sense of security,
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Many today worry about the disappearing church in the Holy Land. In recent meetings with Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a broad coalition of 36 member denominations and organizations representing more than 88 million American Christians working towards a comprehensive resolution to conflicts in the Middle East, another profound
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Jennifer Frayer-Griggs is a graduate of McNeese State University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program, where she had the honor of working with Iowa Poetry Prize winner, John Wood, and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Morri Creech. In addition to writing poetry and nonfiction essays, she is a progressive pastor
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“Everywhere I turned, I heard the same words: ‘You have to forgive.’” wrote trauma survivor and author Nancy Richards. “They came from my family, my counselors, and the religious community alike. I saw myself as a complete and utter failure. As though my self-esteem wasn’t low enough from years of
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Lent has long been framed as a season of fasting, repentance, and turning toward the Divine. Yet, in a nation gripped by state-sanctioned violence, legislative cruelty, and the erosion of basic rights, Lent cannot merely be a time of private reflection. It must also be a discipline of resistance, a
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The U.S. political climate leans heavily into the “great man” idea of leadership these days. This theory was popularized in the first half of the twentieth century and asserts that leaders are born with traits of leadership that only “great” people possess. However, this model of leadership has roots that
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All Presbyterians know that the best way to connect with your community is through a shared meal. At Rhodes College, a Presbyterian-affiliated college in Memphis, TN, the Office of the Chaplain is providing community members with the chance to share interfaith dialogue about democracy over lunch. “Food, Faith, and Free
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Right before his death in the gospel of John, Jesus offers the longest prayer we have in his words. Jesus prays for his disciples--his friends who served in his lifetime--and, I have to believe, he prays for us. Jesus’ final prayer: it holds fantastic insight into the mind of Christ.
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As a kid I had a sense that altars weren’t OK. Or at least — when we create them they belong only in approved “sacred sanctuaries” like a church or temple. I was raised Presbyterian and eventually became an ordained minister in this tradition, and as I learned more about
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