Meet the Authors Rebecca Ann Parker is an ordained United Methodist minister in dual fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association who currently serves as president of and professor of theology at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA. She is the co-author with Rita Nakashima Brock of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us (2001) and Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Read More …
Members as Social Media Advocates (#0367)
Matt Carlisle is a self-described "evangelist for web and social media" who previously served as the executive designer, producer and editor of UMC.org, the official website of The United Methodist Church. He founded Big Heart Design, a web and social media strategy consulting firm, and recently wrote about the importance of local congregations training members to become "your greatest social media advocates." Specifically, he suggests churches would benefit from offering Read More …
Giving Less (#0366)
The Barna Group's latest research suggests that the current economic crisis continues to impact how much Christians contribute to their local congregations. In short: In the immediate aftermath of the economic crisis in late 2008, two out of 10 Americans (20%) had reduced their giving to a church or religious center; three out of 10 (31%) had downsized their giving to other nonprofits. Then, 14 months later, in January of 2010, both measures had increased: three in 10 adults had reduced Read More …
New Ways of Being Church (#0365)
One of many signs of the increasing awareness of the importance of technology for ministry was The Clergy Journal's April/May 2011 edition's theme: Technology and Community: Building Community. Keith Howard, past executive director of the Emerging Spirit initiative of the United Church of Canada, and Aaron McCarroll Gallegos, executive producer of wondercafe.ca, contributed an article entitled "Technology and Community Building," which includes these challenging words: Social media Read More …
It’s Not About . . . (#0364)
Carlos Whittaker describes himself as "an artist, pastor, thinker, experience architect, and Web 2.0 junkie." After serving in local church ministry as Pastor of Worship and Creative Arts at Sandals Church in Riverside California and as Director of Service Programming at Buckhead Church (a campus of North Point Community Church), he signed with Integrity Music and launched a full-time career in the recording industry. Recently he blogged about what the life of faith is not and Read More …
Review of Naked Spirituality (#0363)
Meet the Author Brian McLaren served in pastoral ministry for twenty years as the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church. In 2006, he stepped down from that role to devote his time to writing and speaking. McLaren has written numerous books, including Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words (2011), Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices (2010), A New Kind of Christianity (2010), and Everything Must Change: When the World's Read More …
5 Smooth Stones of Liberal Religion (#0362)
Unitarian Universalist minister James Luther Adams proposed five smooth stones of liberal religion in an essay entitled "Guiding Principles for a Free Faith," which was published in On Being Human Religiously: Selected Essays in Religion and Society (Max Stackhouse, ed. Beacon Press, 1976, pp. 12—20). R. Lloyd Ryan summarizes JLA's smooth stones: Revelation is continuous. Relationships ought to rest on mutual and free consent. We need to work together for just Read More …
One Big Step for the PCUSA (#0361)
After many years of debate and movement toward change, this denomination has now reached the point at which it is certain that effective July 10, 2011, "a person in a same gender relationship can be considered for ordination as deacon, elder, or Minister of the Word and Sacrament." This news comes after many years of discussion and attempted change. So What? I grew up in a Presbyterian (PCUSA) congregation. It was at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, TX Read More …
Full LGBT Equality in the Church (#0360)
Believe Out Loud is a project of Intersections International that is committed to being a" trans-denominational movement that promotes LGBT-inclusion in the Christian church." Recently they launched a campaign to get one million Christians to sign on in support of "full LGBT equality in the church." Sojourners, led by Jim Wallis, rejected their new 83 second ad (watch below) depicting lesbian moms and their son entering a new church and receiving a welcome from the Read More …
Review of Falling Upward (#0359)
Meet the Author Fr. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest. He was the founder of the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director. He speaks and teaches on themes that include Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, the enneagram, and eco-spirituality. Read More …