Ever since it appeared a few weeks ago, I've been thinking about John Vest's blog post called "The Vine is Dying." The Presbyterian pastor from Chicago has been involved in finding ways to help the Presbyterian Church (USA) rebound after decades of decline and his February 27 post was one borne of frustration with the... Continue Reading →
There’s Still Hope for the Mainline
Anyone who's read this blog knows I tend to be critical of mainline Christianity. It's not that I want to leave what has been my theological home for two decades; it's that I get frustrated at some of it's shortcomings. Despite all of that, mainline/progressive/liberal Christianity is my home. As much as I respect my... Continue Reading →
Silence of the Drones
Michael Kruse has a good post that deals with my long quest to find out what is truly prophetic and what is just a poser. Here's a taste: The Christian Left (or progressives) hold themselves up as the antidote to this unholy alliance between the church and state. They are prophetic. Unlike conservatives who were... Continue Reading →
QMTD*
This summer the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will gather for its biennial General Assembly in Orlando. One of the items to be considered is a resolution proclaiming the denomination Open and Affirming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. A resolution is for the most part a sense of the Assembly and carries no... Continue Reading →
Birth Control And The Sham of Theological Diversity
One of the things that Progressive Christians like to say about themselves is how welcoming and tolerant they are. Compared to their more conservative cousins, progressives can pride themselves in being able to think for themselves and to have a place where all ideas and beliefs can be shared without fear. Why, your progressive church... Continue Reading →
Among the “Fuzzy Faithful”
For some reason, whenever I talk about the "spiritual but not religious" or Lillian Daniel, the site stats go way up. I don't know if that's a good thing or if there are a number of people plotting my demise. I gonna believe the former over the latter. In our continual chat about SBNRs and... Continue Reading →
Why I Like Lillian Daniel.
I really like Lillian Daniel. Really. Why, you ask? Because in 2011 she said something that many mainline Christians have been thinking, but were too afraid to say outloud. In 2011 Daniel wrote an article with the very provocative title: "Spiritual, But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me." If you think this was a rant,... Continue Reading →
Wait for the Healing
Back in May of 2012 , I shared a story of what happened at a Baptist church I attended in Washington, DC in the early 90s. It was a story of how people who disagreed with each other on the issue of homosexuality were able to still be friends and support each other. Around that... Continue Reading →
Mainline Churches Don’t Give a Rip About Church Planting.
As 2012 draws to a close, I'm taking some time to reflect on the new church ministry in the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest and the hopes for 2013 and church planting in within Mainline Protestantism as a whole. Earlier this year, I kind of fell into leading a ministry team of people interested... Continue Reading →
About That Interview…
Some of you might have noticed that there is an article in the most recent Christian Century with a Disciples pastor in Minneapolis by the name of Dennis Sanders. I haven't said much about it, but I wanted to provide some background to the article. Steve Thorngate, the editor sent me an email over the... Continue Reading →