If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. + Matthew 18:15-16
Effective tools, strategies, and frameworks to bridge the gaping gap between the Black Church and LGBTQ+ Community
As the Biden administration is grappling with a rising tide of violent threats to democracy and fair elections, Great Britain has demonstrated once again the lesson that George Washington learned and made an essential part of the American heritage.
Embracing Social Media for Church Growth and Transformation
Attendance in US churches continues to sharply decline. As church leaders struggle to identify both root causes and possible responses, they often feel a sense of despair... but there is hope!
Change is inevitable. Make it transformational. Find transformation in unexpected changes, in your life and your congregation
The Seminary of the Wild Eco-Ministry Certificate Yearlong Program is an experiential, nature-based, yearlong offering to help you remember your primary participation in sacred Earth. In the face of profound ecological and social challenges, a New Story is emerging. At the core of that Story is a weaving of an ancient path and a new way of relating to Earth, other species, each other, and the Divine.
Watch below as these five faith and justice leaders discuss how they are preparing for November 3rd election and for the aftermath that may follow. How do we help keep our communities safe?
Are you passionate about progressive Christianity? We are seeking 4 new additional Board members! Join our Team!
When we realized because of COVID19 we couldn’t sing together, we refused to give up the use of music in our Gatherings; it is just too important. So we turned to the only source of music we thought could offer the same experience even if it didn’t involve singing along: YouTube.
We've been thinking about leadership the wrong way. What if good leaders lead like God? And what if God's leading is open and relational?
During this time of unprecedented change, how can we create maintain and create greater financial sustainability?
One of the struggles many millennials have with organized religion in general is the inability of the older generations to adapt, change, or entertain new ideas and new ways of thinking. This is an issue each generation bumps up against, but this generation and this subject don’t seem to be finding a middle ground.
“At the center of the Christmas story is hope…hope which comes to us in the form of a vulnerable, poor baby. A child, not a king, changes the world. God appears to us as a marginalized, Afro-Semitic, Jewish child from Nazareth in Palestine. A child who grows up to teach us to welcome the stranger. How would our world be different if we loved our neighbors as ourselves?” asks the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister of Middle Collegiate Church.
If you want to build a progressive congregation; if you're going to enliven love and wisdom in your congregation, don’t even think about trying to change people’s minds.
In today’s world, we cannot help but be aware of a number of disturbing trends such as increasing inequality of wealth, threats to the stability of the earth’s eco-system, a rise in populism and fragmentation in politics, and a rising threat of violence from terrorism of one sort or another. At a time when scientific and technological advances in many fields offer great power, with the possibility of both great benefits and also great dangers, these trends, taken together, represent a threat to the future well-being of both our planet and humanity itself.
Planning a church is a challenging task. While many church planters have been blamed for treating churches like businesses, there is no doubt that financial concerns can prohibit builders from creating the church they would like to. How can you build the church of your dreams? How can you best serve your congregation?
The Online University with a Contemporary Theology…
Offering Degrees and Certificates With a Concentration in Progressive Christianity As Well as in the Following Areas of Concentration: Evolutionary Spirituality SpiritualitySpiritual Companionship World Religions Pastoral Care and Counseling Pastoral Ministry Feminist Pastoral Ministry And More!
A denomination not known for controversy is taking stances on issues such as assault weapons, universal health care and President Donald Trump's border wall. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted a declaration during a meeting of the denominations leaders in St. Louis to stake out positions on several social issues, leaving it up to the church's 10,000 congregations and 1.7 million members to decide whether to stand behind the declaration.
The US is built with layer upon layer of racism. The most obvious example is that the US was populated mostly by western Europeans who massacred their way across the frontier, wiping out whole cultures of people along the way. Racism is a driving force even in our education and health care systems. How can this be? We Americans just don't see each other as members of the same family and society. If we did, it would be easy to convince each other of the value of investing in each other. We act very differently when we have that sense of shared commonality with others.
An inclusive and pioneering exploration of Theology, Spirituality and Current Events
With thousands of subscribers around the globe, Progressing Spirit is the world’s leading outlet for an intelligent, inclusive, and pioneering exploration of today’s theological, spiritual, and social advancements.
Dear Progressive Christian Friends and Allies: Recently, I created a curriculum for churches to use for adult education about faith and
A study guide for churches on health care policy in America
Here I offer a church "adult study" that can be completed in one after-worship program, or expanded to multiple sessions. It focuses on one of the most important issues facing voters in the upcoming midterm elections. Use as you wish! And please give me feedback on how you use it and how it is received.
I write as another who loves the Quaker Faith but increasingly wonders if he can find a place in it. I have been a part of three Quaker communities, serving as clerk for one and being invited to accept the pastorate of another. Having attended national Quaker gatherings and corresponded with meetings from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I have come to share the now widely held conclusion that unless the current trajectory is reversed, liberal Quakerism is headed for extinction. The patient is sick. The disease has been misdiagnosed. The prognosis may be serious but it is too early to hang black crepe from the windows and send out death notices. With the right medicine there is still hope. But let’s first examine the symptoms.
Largest-ever number of Christian organizations in a six-month span affirms growing vital importance of healthy organizational culture
The Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI), a pioneer in equipping and inspiring Christian leaders to build a flourishing organizational culture, today honored 87 faith-based organizations as Certified Best Christian Workplaces.
Eric Andrew-Gee
With slick social media, a gospel of self-help and services that look more like Arcade Fire concerts, a Toronto congregation is bucking the global trend of aging Christian congregations.
What kind of spiritual practices help us build a robust and healthy society, where citizens are united, at a deep level that transcends ideology, race, and class, around a shared spiritual and moral vision of what America should be? That's what The Practicing Democracy Project strives to answer, by bringing you thought-provoking and inspiring articles, books, excerpts, quotes, topics, and spiritual practices, with more to come.
By Arthur Neslen for The Guardian
More than 40 Catholic institutions are to announce the largest ever faith-based divestment from fossil fuels, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi.
In religious as well as other history, when we don’t know our own history, we are condemned to repeat it. Condemned not by anyone else, not even "God", but by ourselves and the consequences of our own willful ignorance.
BROKEN FOR GOOD takes the general public on a wild ride into the upside down world of nonprofit management. Hailed as both provocative and uplifting BFG uses an “emperor has no clothes” approach to confront the “crazy-making” that’s paralyzed the charitable sector for the past fifty years. Relying on vivid story-telling BROKEN FOR GOOD “challenges the existing order of things” inspiring society to solve global problems by first transforming the nonprofits in whom they invest.