Philip Chryst led a WikiWorship service each Sunday during Lent this year in a local bar. Each week Chrsyt would invite would be participants to submit their questions on religion, ethics, life or God using the mission’s website. He then selected one of these topics for the weekly worship gathering, which was highly participatory in nature. After introducing the topic and providing a preliminary personal answer, Chrsyt carried a microphone around to any of the worshippers who Read More …
Discipleship
A Challenging Blessing (#1396)
In the April 16, 2014 edition of The Christian Century, a challenging blessing appears (p.9). It was originally given to Brennan Manning by his spiritual director, Larry Hine, on the occasion of his ordination. May all of your expectations be frustrated, May all of your plans be thwarted, May all of your desires be withered into nothingness, That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and can sing and dance in the love of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So Read More …
Sermon: The Easter Difference (#1392)
Text: Matthew 28:1-10 Sermon Excerpt Pam Driesell, a Presbyterian pastor, tells a story of her good friend Mary’s recent Easter experience. To make sure her four-year old daughter Elena really understood what Easter is all about Mary tried talking to her about it. "Mommy, will the Easter bunny bring me purple jelly beans?" I am sure he will bring you jelly beans, Elena. But, remember, Easter isn't about the bunny. It's about Jesus. "But will they be purple?" Yes, honey, I am sure Read More …
Homeless Jesus Statue (#1391)
St. Alban's Episcopal Church (Davidson, NC) recently installed a $22,000 bronze statue of a homeless Jesus on a park bench on their church campus. Created by Canadian sculptor and devout Catholic Timothy Schmalz, this provocative artistic addition has created significant controversy in and beyond this wealthy small town. In his recent article on this new homeless Jesus, John Burnett writes: The sculpture is intended as a visual translation of the passage in the Book of Matthew, Read More …
A Sensory Maundy Thursday Service (#1389)
This Maundy Thursday, I will be participating in a service unlike any I have ever experienced. Ron Thompson, Interim Associate Minister at the United Church (Marco Island, FL), has designed a sensory experience that will offer worshipers the opportunity to rotate through five sense specific stations: Smell: anointing oil Sound: Taizé music Sight: stained glass Touch: foot washing Taste: Holy Communion/Eucharist/Lord's Supper So What? While every congregation I have served Read More …
Check Your Privilege (#1387)
I rarely click through when I see friends sharing their score to the latest quiz, but I did a few days ago after seeing a number of posts on my Facebook feed declaring just how privileged people were based on their response to a rather lengthy checklist. As I took the assessment, I realized my score would be high. I was, however, surprised by just how high it was, and that this placed me in the "you're the most privileged category." So What? I invite you to take the quiz, and to reflect Read More …
Implied Institutional Messages (#1386)
Jim Palmer, ordained minister turned activist in the non-religious spirituality movement, offers several implied messages of the institutional church based on Marshall McLuhan's frequently quoted premise that the medium is the message. The first three are especially troubling as we begin Holy Week: church is a place, a location, a building; Christianity happens in services, classes, meetings, events, and programs; and what people need most is good information about God. So Read More …
Sermon: Competing Expectations (#1385)
Sermon Text: Matthew 21:1-11 Sermon Excerpt Scholars rarely agree on much of anything, but when it comes to Palm Sunday there is a general consensus that this is the beginning of the final week of Jesus’ earthly life – at least inasmuch as life had always been understood. If we lived back in this era, I think our individual decisions about whether or not to attend the parade would have been focused on our understanding of Jesus’ ministry up until this moment. We cannot really imagine Read More …
Labyrinth Dedication (#1379)
Two days ago, on a beautiful sunny 80 degree afternoon, the outdoor labyrinth at the Naples United Church of Christ was dedicated in a simple but moving service. In keeping with the intentionally public always welcoming placement of this new labyrinth the service was open to all and concluded with an invitation to linger and walk. So What? The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress, founder of Veriditas and the world's foremost expert on the labyrinth, was present to lead an all day workshop prior to Read More …
Sermon: Thirsting for More (#1378)
Sermon Text: John 4:5-15, 19-26, 39-42 Sermon Excerpt This morning I want to offer a history lesson: a lesson in the shifting nature of American spirituality since the 1950s. Don’t worry. This isn’t a doom and gloom account of the decline of Christianity or an attempt to idealize an earlier era. Instead, it is an effort to help give names to changes almost everyone here has lived through. Robert Wuthnow, an esteemed sociologist who has taught for many years at Princeton where Read More …