This Christmas, we invite you to re-connect with Source and the Oneness of All.
read more
We crouch with Mary on the straw of our messy lives
letting go of everything but this moment.
We have developed a liturgy for use on Christmas Eve, drawing upon the inclusive and scriptural images/metaphors of light and wisdom.
read more
Baptism is a symbol, reminding us that God has given us all the gift of life, and through the grace of Jesus Christ, all are united as one family. We are assured that we are a part of the eternal love of God. Those who participate in this symbol are marked for Christian discipleship, and are initiated into the fellowship of the Church. Jesus made it abundantly clear that children are important in the scheme of God’s creation. Remember how he said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God”.
read more
I will light candles this Christmas.
Candles of joy, despite all sadness.
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch.
Soren Kierkegaard has said that prayer does not change the One to Whom we pray but it changes the one who prays. If we accept that prayer is not asking a supernatural theistic god to grant us wishes, how then do we pray so that it changes us?
read more
American retailers have essentially pre-announced that the annual Thanksgiving observance — when we presumably pause to gratefully remember everything we have — has been cancelled so bargain shoppers can get an even earlier jump-start on their holiday shopping for all the things we don’t have yet.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world a typhoon of record proportion hit landfall only a few weeks ago; nearly wiping an island nation off the face of the earth, and leaving those who survived with virtually nothing. Then last week an unseasonable swarm of twisters flattened whole towns across the Midwest. By comparison, it all makes the plight of those first pilgrims facing the harsh realities of their first Thanksgiving in a brave new world look like a walk in the park.
And, all the while, the airwaves and media have been filled with docu-dramas and documentaries commemorating the half-century mark of those events that shattered an age of relative innocence for those of us old enough to remember it; ushering in an age of extraordinary upheaval and anxiety, starting with what social critics and historians alike attribute to the assassination of JFK. Juxtaposed and taken together, these events represent a seeming un-reality that hasn’t really abated much in the last fifty years. We live in an age of anxiety.
Jesus masterfully taught in the philosophical tradition known as Jewish cynicism, with such parabolic tales and quaint-sounding imagery as the “lilies of the field.” And he did so at a time and age that – while seemingly ancient to our modern way of thinking – may not have been all that different from our own anxious age. Consider then our fretful, misbegotten ways, and the wild lilies of the fields.
read more
Sunshine Cathedral MCC Sermon
Jesus: Veteran of the Heresy Hunters War
Sharing the Light is an Internet talk show of The Sunshine Cathedral where Rev. Drs. Durrell Watkins and Robert Griffin discuss theological questions of interest to our community.
read moreSharing the Light is an Internet talk show where Reverends Durrell Watkins, Robert Griffin, and others discuss theological questions of interest to our community.
read moreSharing the Light is an Internet talk show where Reverends Durrell Watkins, Robert Griffin, and others discuss theological questions of interest to our community.
read more
Sharing the Light is an Internet talk show where Reverends Durrell Watkins and Robert Griffin discuss theological questions of interest to our community.
read more
Controversial retired American bishop John Spong on his latest book “Jesus for the Non Religious” on Allan Gregg In Conversation
Canadian pollster and media pundit Allan Gregg welcomes prominent authors, artists, and cutting-edge thinkers to discuss an eclectic mix of topics. From evolutionary paleontology to what drives a city’s prosperity, Allan Gregg brings more to his interviews than a mere list of questions; he also brings a wealth of experience and boundless curiosity.
Sermon given by Reverend Leah Robberts-Mosser at Community United Church of Christ (UCC) in Champaign, IL on May 16, 2010 about being a Progressive Christianity congregation. Part of the “We are an Easter People, Celebrating our Core Values” sermon series.
read more
Bishop Spong shares an early experience in ministry that helped redefine his understanding of the practice of prayer.
read more
All religions are the product of a culture’s attempt at expressing their most closely held beliefs, values and the morals they want to pass on to the coming generation. We should no more say that one religion is better than another than we would claim that one language is superior to another or that my favorite music is “right” any everyone else’s favorite music is “wrong.” There are healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs and practices but in the 21st century we need to learn from one another and challenge one another to repent of our prejudices, oppressive practices and out dated values so that we can all become the best Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. that we can be.
read more
The dogged refusal of traditional religions to give up Bronze Age magical thinking and doctrines will continue to make religion increasingly irrelevant in the 21st century. If the church has a future it will be because we are willing to undergo a radical transformation, being more passionate about what is true than what we have read in ancient documents. We need to be connected to one another in order to be effective in changing the world and we need meaningful connection to others to correct our own excesses. We can become better people through working together for justice, peace and mercy.
read more
