One more brown bodyshotand I think of all the lessons I nevertaughtmy son likeavoid the police at all costsdress niceand don’t wear red or blue or any color that they might think means you’re in a gangkeep your hands at your sides in the storeso they know you’re not stealingor packingor preparing to throw a…
Last year my teenage son got in trouble for playing Pokemon with a friend before school instead of attending a meeting he was supposed to be at. He informed me that it was my fault he was playing Pokemon because I would not let him be in Pokemon club. So he had to play before…
With a little bit of John 1 thrown in for good measure: Call to Worship (Inspired by this lovely reading from Katherine Hawker.) The word of God came to Jonah The word of God comes to us: Go Despite your fears Speak the truth of God Love your neighbor and you enemy Forgive as…
I commend to you all a letter written by Gordon Oyer to the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board in response to their recent report. Gordon gives a respectful and insightful critique of the board’s refusal to recognize the credentials of Theda Good. The conclusion of his letter states: MC USA documents do contain space within…
I was reading through some of my old worship liturgies this morning and came across this prayer of confession. I wrote it with this passage from Deuteronomy 30 in mind: This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.…
Call to Worship (from Psalm 28): Praise be to God who hears our voice. God is our strength; God is our shield; Our hearts trust and help comes. Our hearts leap for joy, and with our songs we praise our God.
Here is a call to worship for communion Sunday based on the spiritual “You’ve got a place at the welcome table.” We gather together to worship God. We gather together to share a holy meal. We gather around this table To which Christ has invited us. You’ve got a place at this table. And you’ve…
The Mennonite Church USA made their report from last weekend’s meetings public today. To be honest, I feel a bit sick to my stomach. (Though it is hard to say if that is solely because of the statement or also due to the inadvisable amount of cake I just consumed to console myself.) I want…
The Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA is meeting this weekend. They will be discussing the denominational response to Mountain States Mennonite Conference (since they licensed Theda Good) and talking more generally about issues of denominational structure and maintaining unity in the midst of theological disagreements–particularly related to our varied understandings of faithful sexuality. If…
There is a story about the great theologian, Augustine of Hippo. One day after he had been writing about the Trinity for awhile, he decided to take a break and go walk along the beach. He came across a boy who had a bucket. He would fill up the bucket, run up the hill, and…
Spacious Faith 