****YOU HAVE REACHED THIS WEBSITE IN ERROR
-THIS WEBSITE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE****
PLEASE OPEN A NEW WINDOW
AND GO TO OUR NEW WEBSITE AT

WWW.PROGRESSIVECHRISTIANITY.ORG 
THANK YOU!

Our Earth is sacred and does not belong to us.  When we recognize that we are merely stewards of creation which has been entrusted to our care, it shifts our outlook.  We cannot continue to ravage the earth, deplete its resources, and consume without restraint while claiming to be faithful to our God.  The Gospel is one of interdependence.  All of creation is woven together in a delicate web that we must nurture faithfully.

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.” Mark 14:1-2.

Andrew Cuomo today is a phenomenon. He speaks every day about the coronavirus and his press conferences have become must-see tv. Why? Many reasons, but at heart he speaks to spiritual yearning in all people, a yearning that focuses not on religion and/or God, but on the truth and depth of our common humanity. 

Much of human life is spent in an illusory world that is mistaken for reality. The sun comes up each morning, runs its course, and day by day we fall into routines that we pretend will never end. When crises come, as we know they will, false confidence and phony optimism are shattered by calamity. Overwhelmed by anxiety and grief, we feel mistreated, betrayed, or helpless. Then comes the thought: “Am I all alone? Does God care?”

We are living these days under what feels like house arrest, as we observe “social distancing.” That’s an oxymoron, if there ever was one. Human beings are soft-wired – if not hardwired – to be together. Nowadays, the kindest thing we can do for each other is to keep our distance.

Even during this global pandemic,
a walk around the block
yields moments of healing and beauty.

I am a newly retired optimist. I used to believe that things would always be okay: that no matter how bad circumstances seemed in the world, I trusted that people would do the right thing, that goodness would prevail, that the rational center would hold.

As we try to learn the skills of staying home, maintaining distance, and the disciplines that prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, that means that some of us are very isolated, living alone with almost no face to face contact with anyone.

For many of us, social distancing, has created a wall between us and separated us from our lives. Bumping up against this wall over and over again, our noses can almost smell the fear filled mortar which oozes from the newly laid brickwork.

Our scholars and audiences seek understanding about the history and faith of religious people and culture—but not just for the sake of knowledge. Faith And Reason challenges faith to confront injustice in our world. Today, that means taking a critical look at the injustice right in our own backyard.

I confess, when I first started reading, I was feeling a tad disappointed. However, I quickly realized, Robin Meyers wasn’t speaking to me, a member of the choir. Rather, he was talking to those who didn’t yet know they too could sing. Who’d perhaps been told they couldn’t, thus didn’t fit in and so weren’t needed. Or wanted.

The world as we have known it no longer exists. This pandemic will end, realistically, however, the virus will remain and will be held at bay, largely by a vaccine that will have to be repeated as the virus evolves every year. Still, when it is safe to go back to church and to restaurants, movies and music venues, not all of them will have survived.

  Sermon with Rev. Caleb J. Lines, University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) UCC San Diego Children Worship & Wonder Story – Marshala Salgado-Solorio Scripture Reading – Luke 4:1-13 – Tim Stigers   Rev. Caleb J. Lines …

Anyone who isn’t prepared to do the intense work that is required to become love in action, is allowing the dark to destroy the planet.

This part of American history “is not taught in schools,” said Jolynne Locust Woodcock of the Oglala Lakota, Cherokee, and Northern Cheyenne Nations and another member of the Four Winds community. Nor do people discuss “what happened, who died, [or] at whose expense this country exists. It’s not acknowledged that we’re still alive, that we are a living, breathing, heartfelt bunch of people.”

Let’s take care of one another. Let’s share our resources whether that is money or toilet paper. Let’s inject humor into our conversation and encourage one another. This crisis will be over one day, and when it is, let’s have carried on in a way that we can be proud of.

I think all of these [Christian rock stars] who find the courage to share their truth make a huge impact, and if everyone in contemporary Christian music and the church was honest about their own truth, their own questions, and their own beliefs, I think we would progress a lot quicker. 

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now.