Now, I know Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. And following Jesus is something I take super-seriously. But I’m angry and worried, and pretty much everyone in the United States is. It isn’t easy to follow those particular instructions.
"What does it mean to be a Progressive Christian? Listen to ProgressiveChristianity.org Co-Executive Director Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines examine the 8 Points of Progressive Christianity throughout Lent, continuing with Points 3 & 4."
A practice for individuals and churches
You can “walk” these stations by practicing one station per day, from March 20 through Good Friday, April 2 – or at any other time or manner during Lent (Ash Wednesday, February 17, until Easter Sunday, April 4).
Progressive Christian Spiritual Curriculum that is Compassionate, Intelligent, Inter-Spiritual, and Non-Dogmatic. This is Year One of our A Joyful Path curriculum for ages 6-10. 38 Lessons.
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In A Joyful Path, Year Two, we focus on some of the main tenets of Progressive Christianity and Spirituality, giving our children the foundation they need to walk the path of Jesus in today's world. It has stories and affirmations written to help children clarify their own personal beliefs while staying open to the wisdom of other traditions.
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.
"Jesus matters for Christians because he was for us the decisive disclosure of God." | "The notion of Jesus' death as a substitute for our sins was not found in the first 1000 years of Christianity." Just two quotes from an extraordinary "Lent Event" Forum with Jesus scholar Marcus Borg.
From the Festive Worship collection
When love and hatred engage in mortal conflict it is love which suffers most; but love has the final victory.
From the Festive Worship collection
The events of Holy Week reveal the complexity of human nature - of how loyalty and treachery, callousness and tenderness can live side by side in people's hearts.
Ride on: ride on in majesty; The palms affirm with certainty Their claim - you are Messiah King. The crowds join in and loudly sing.
The shocking thing about the story of Jesus is that it turns common wisdom on its head.
A Journey of Faith: Moving On
A growing number of progressive Christians, for a decade or more, have seen themselves less and less of being a theist, that is as one who believes in a 'God out there' who intervenes with and over rules the laws of nature. Yet many of these are still very happy to use the words Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This Trinitarian descriptor expresses the way in which Christians may encounter or interpret our 'God', but 'God' is much more. For many progressive Christians, the Trinity is an expression of different people and communities living in perfect harmony. Now that really is heaven on earth!
A Lenten tradition in Western Christianity is to meditate upon the journey Christ took to Calvary. These stations or steps are found both in the Scriptures and in the traditions and legends of catholic Christianity. For many this practice is used to participate in the suffering and sacrifice endured by Christ. I encourage you to also take up this journey seeing within each station a calling for the modern, progressive Christian to grow in the ways and love of God. Meditate upon each station considering the questions or thoughts presented with a Scriptural verse to ponder and a brief prayer of the heart. In John 15:12 Jesus tells us, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Only by walking with Christ and seeing just how much he truly loved everyone can we begin to love others in the same fashion.
People across the continent are broadening the 43nd Earth Day to last 40 days. This year, PACE (The President's Advisory Committee on Ethical Eating) joins forces with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to focus on environmental justice and food workers’ rights, particularly the rights of restaurant workers. To honor these workers, we have timed the beginning of our campaign to coincide with International Workers Day on May 1. The official start of 40/40/43 is n May 5th and it extends 40 days to June 13th. The dates are flexible and congregations may decide to participate as part of the Justice Sunday "Choosing Compassionate Consumption" campaign which focuses on protecting the rights of workers in the food system
A Guide to Spiritual Practice for Lent
Beatitude Four: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.”
The Year of Luke is the first in a series of commentaries on biblical scripture found in the three-year cycle of Christian liturgical
Children ~ This first Sunday of Lent, we give up the idea that we have no voice.
Sea Raven details how the Gosepl of Jesus relates to the current debate over worker's rights.
The secret is, God’s covenantal justice is distributive. No being in the great matrix of the universe is left out. Matthew’s Jesus didn’t get it either.
Creation liturgist Sea Raven juxtaposes the thinking of Matthew and Paul for her first article of the lenten season.
For 21st Century Christianity, the question is, which interpretation makes the most sense? Magic and miracle, or liberation from injustice? Scholars and commentators are often accused of reading 21st Century world views back into 1st Century writings.
The Song of Solomon would never have become sacred scripture if it had not been interpreted as allegory.