Mainline Protestant denominations are dying, while conservative traditions are flourishing. “Nones” are the fastest growing religious demographic in the United States. A pastor and self-proclaimed former “none,” Heath possesses an excellent understanding of church growth and the lack thereof, and frequently draws upon that experience when look for ways to welcome people to church.
read moreNow a New York Times bestseller, Nadia Bolz-Weber takes no prisoners as she reclaims the term “pastrix”(pronounced “pas-triks,” a term used by some Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors) in her messy, beautiful, prayer-and-profanity laden narrative about an unconventional life of faith.
read moreI’m considering attending a United Universalist Church, the closest thing to Progressive Christianity I can find in my area. I hesitate because I don’t want to lose my focus on the Christ path as it has been so fruitful in my life.
read moreThird wave womanism is a new movement within religious studies with deep roots in the tradition of womanist religious thought—while also departing from it in key ways.
After a helpful and orienting introduction, this volume gathers essays from established and emerging scholars whose work is among the most lively and innovative scholarship today.
This is public theology. As precious Patrons, I’m inviting you in to my theological process. Beginning on Ash Wednesday (March 6) and concluding on Good Friday (April 19), each week I will publish a photo and brief reflection on each of Christ’s 7 Last Words on the Cross.
read moreThe Graduate Theological Union’s Women’s Studies in Religion hosts womanist scholars Monica A. Coleman, Keri Day, and Andrea White, with moderator Inese Radzins, March 14, 2013, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, CA.
read moreDamon Garcia is a progressive Christian mystic with years of youth and young adults ministry experience in churches, schools, and wherever people are talking about spirituality and culture.
read moreIt’s the House for all Sinners and Saints in Denver, a widely unconventional congregation led by Evangelical Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber. She told correspondent Lucky Severson her language, teaching and tattoos symbolize her acceptance of everyone, and they of her. Their church is thriving.
read moreThe Christian story, from Genesis until now, is fundamentally about people on the move—outgrowing old, broken religious systems and embracing new, more redemptive ways of life.
It’s time to move again.
read moreHow does a progressive Christian exist with no Christian community of support even from clergy who certainly do discuss modernized theology? It certainly is a lonely vigil.
read moreIn Terry Crews book on Manhood, he talks about targeting high profile sexual predators in order to end patriarchy is like trying to cut a tree down by cutting the leaves. Toxic masculinity is a part of our culture and we need to lay the axe to the trunk of that tree, rooting out the male privilege that has been the source of victimization of women for centuries. Perhaps the current backward trend in our nation is the retreat that will force us to find the activation energy necessary to bring about the fall of the patriarchy.
read moreI am the church, and this is my confession. My last confession was 500 years ago. I have oppressed women and kept them out of leadership positions. I have oppressed gay and lesbian people. I have judged people pointlessly for having normal sexual urges and relationships, treating sex like a disease instead of lifting it up as a precious gift from God.
read moreThis sermon, is a distillation of the work of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan in their excellent book “The First Christmas”
I am indebted to Peter Rollins for his approach to the Christmas story.
Some have said that the birth of Jesus is the most amazing birth story ever told. Jesus birth narrative heralded the arrival of a child who was praised as the Son of God, the Saviour of the World who was said to be the personification of peace on earth; God incarnate; fully divine and fully human. Not everyone agrees that this is the most amazing birth story ever told. Indeed, the story of Jesus birth can’t even claim to be unique. Some claim that Jesus’ birth story is just one of a long line of birth stories. Jesus’ birth story, some claim, is only considered to be unique because it’s our story; our story that we tell over and over at the expense of other birth stories from other communities that are just as great.
read moreMy answer to this question is a complex one. On one hand, I believe there are tremendous riches in the Christian tradition. It’s a 4,000+ year theological lineage which contains endless metaphors, parables, and doctrines which have helped foster human evolution and have sparked some of the greatest social reform movements in history. That must be acknowledged and celebrated.
read moreJoran Slane Oppelt (Integral Church) sits with author and theologian Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox at the 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Canada to discuss the relevance of the Creation Spirituality movement and the importance of ritual.
read moreChristmas has become about more than Jesus. It’s about the lifting of the human spirit. It’s about kindness and compassion and the glory of being alive!
read moreMonday, December 10th marks the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s death—which has now been confirmed as a martyr’s death by the recent solid and important investigative study, The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton by Hugh Turley and David Marin (as well as by my own encounters over the years with three CIA agents who were in Southeast Asia at the time).
read morePublications from “Progressive” Australian and New Zealand Authors
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