In her memoir Mighty Be Our Powers, the Liberian grassroots activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee said: Modern war stories often resemble each other, male commanders are quoted offering predictions of swift victory, male diplomats make serious…
Practicing resurrection with a new vocabulary
It is a well-known line from Wendell Berry’s Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front: “Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.” I have been thinking about this enigmatic statement as…
No explanations needed inside the church
Some years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land with a large tour group. We spent two weeks traveling around Israel and Palestine but spent most of our time in and around Jerusalem. One of the most…
Springsteen and Easter: ‘The Rising’
Many fans of Bruce Springsteen will not be surprised that this series of writings on the intersection between Lent and the minstrel from Freehold Borough, N. J., should come to a conclusion with “The Rising” on Easter Sunday. The song…
Embracing the hopelessness of Holy Saturday
Why are we in such a rush to get to Easter Sunday? In our efforts to make Easter celebrations the most extravagant Sunday of the year, when church attendance is expected to be beyond the norm, we forget — if not…
Usually traditional, NYC church takes different approach on Good Friday
Good Friday services at Madison Avenue Baptist Church are traditional in many ways. Participants are reminded, through music, prayer and scripture readings, of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Themes of sorrow and grief are experienced in an ornate…
The cross: oppression or liberation?
La versión en español está disponible aquí. The cross is one of the most significant and powerful symbols in Christianity. Throughout history it has been perceived and used in different ways. It has been a central piece in theological reflection…
Getting political in the pulpit
The responsibility of the church in this current political climate should be clear. There’s no violation of separation of church and state to say from the pulpit that hitting people who disagree with us is wrong. Or excluding people who believe different things than we do should stop. Or accumulating wealth while many struggle to make a living wage cannot continue.
Jesus is not the same as Christ
A holistic, inclusive, compassionate, justice oriented Christian vision would be adopted by more Christians if more Christians more carefully understood and distinguished between the pre-Easter Jesus and the post-Easter Christ. The appearance stories in the Gospels (probably a late developing…