A Presbyterian, a Lutheran, and two Episcopalians walk into a hospital. Not the start of a joke, I promise. Instead, it was
Keep ReadingA Theological Reflection Why can’t white folks in general – and white Christians in particular – be rid of the problems of white privilege and racism? Why can’t a board, a vestry, a session, or pastors and Christian Educators simply
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Asking the Right Questions There are two fundamentally different ways to start. You can start by asking questions like, “What is the future of ecumenism in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?” Or even “What does the future of institutionalized denominations hold?” These questions are important, but counterintuitive as it might seem,
MoreDenominations are a strange thing. Denominations divide us into discrete boxes of distinct doctrine but can also reflect dynamic diversity. For decades, the ecumenical movement in the United States has sought to transcend, unite, and even bypass these institutional categories to invoke a universal body of Christ. At times, that
MoreA Presbyterian, a Lutheran, and two Episcopalians walk into a hospital. Not the start of a joke, I promise. Instead, it was the start of my summer working at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, as a student intern in the Clinical Pastoral Education program. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is
More“Can I ask you a question? Hugging during the passing of the peace… is that an all-Lutherans thing or just a Lutheran Campus Ministry thing?” Of all the ecumenical worship service’s elements that were different than our usual Sunday UKirk worship (including the use of real wine rather than grape
MoreA Personal Faith Journey My favorite book as a child was called “I Like Sunday School.” It followed a little white girl who looked forward to learning about Jesus each week at church, just like me. I spent much of my childhood at church: memorizing Psalm 23 in Sunday School,
MoreEcumenical Advocacy in our Nation’s Capitol When we at the Office of Public Witness step outside into the bustle of Capitol Hill, it is common to see packs of people with purple arm bands or orange neckties or yellow book bags traveling together from one congressional office to another, carrying
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The argument of this issue, in short, is this: All though we might think of ecumenical as something separate and formal, we actually live it all the time. Perhaps it’s time our thinking caught up to our usual practice. The French playwright Moliere may in fact have best captured this
MoreA Response to the Foothills Presbytery Overtures I try to avoid getting bogged down in the details of church polity. Generally, this is because I think it leads us to spend too much time looking inward and debating minutia when that time and effort would be better spent looking outward,
MoreBut What Does That Mean? First we partner with God and use an incarnational model. “God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.
MoreThe Missio dei. In Latin, it means, simply, ‘mission of God.’ The term itself is perhaps symbolic of the way we have grown in our understanding of the relationship between mission, God, and God’s church. As a concept, missio dei has gained popularity and influence throughout the twentieth and twenty-first
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