Amy Butler preached this sermon at The Riverside Church on Christmas Eve this year. Well, here we are, and it’s Christmas Eve, again. On the edge of yet another year, we hear the ancient story read, picture a peace-filled stable…
Finding a place to ask the tough questions
Early in my pastoral work I found myself in the middle of an intense season of transformation and conflict at my church. I wasn’t prepared for the dynamics I faced then; really, nobody at church knew quite what to do…
The moment the Church has been working for
Objectively speaking, there has been very little in the political world that one might call good about the months leading up to the election. Now that the election is over (sort of), for Christian leaders everywhere there is at least…
When telling the truth is painful — and affirming
So here’s how last week went down for me. It actually all began almost two weeks ago when I was sitting in an airport about a 12-hour plane ride away from home. The final presidential debate wasn’t on TV anywhere,…
Anatomy of a conference: Why God and guns?
At the beginning of October, The Riverside Church hosted God and Guns: Faith Leaders Address Gun Violence. Highlights from the day and video of the presentations can be found here. More than 100 faith leaders from across the country gathered in…
A circus of an election when people’s lives are at stake
I think it is an objective fact that this presidential election is a circus, a national embarrassment. Every morning just the practice of reading the headlines takes uncommon fortitude; at this point I’m prepared to say that very little surprises…
A new framework for thinking about church budgets
This is, hands down, the least favorite time of year for pastors everywhere: church budget planning season. Nobody likes budget planning, from the tedious work it entails to the way in which money necessarily informs the work of the church,…
How can a diverse community of faith collaborate with God in the world’s healing?
I doubt I’m telling you something you don’t know, but just in case you’re wondering, let me say from the start: leading a church is hard work. It’s just perpetually difficult to bring a group of people together, united or…
What would happen if we set fear down?
You would think that after preaching almost four cycles of the Revised Common Lectionary a preacher would have at least one sermon on all the interesting texts that come around regularly. For some reason unknown to me, however, it turns…
What will it take to get through this political season?
Lately I’ve heard friends talking about how their Facebook feeds seem to be turning into echo chambers — that is, all the political posts they see are posts that reflect their own opinions. This has not happened to me, thanks solely to my online and real life relationship with my cousin Kevin.
Grief fatigue: Are we really making a difference in the world’s healing?
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a group of millennial social justice leaders who were meeting across the street at Union Theological Seminary. I probably shouldn’t have read their bios before I headed over to their closing…
If the church won’t speak out, who will?
I told this story in my sermon Sunday: I met a new friend the other day, who, upon finding out I was a pastor, asked me a question framed with a story. “What should pastors be saying about this election?”…