The most significant factor that keeps the Black Church on the down-low are closeted, homophobic ministers. Pastor Donnie McClurkin- a three-time Gospel Grammy winner and the former poster boy for African American ex-gay ministries -is one example.  In a recent episode of TV One’s “Uncensored,” McClurkin talked about his sexual past. 

The pre-Easter Jesus is the historical Jesus, the Jesus before his crucifixion and the experience of Easter Sunday.  He is the Jesus of history, the Jesus who grew up in the peasant village of Nazareth and who, around the age of thirty, launched a public ministry that changed the world.  However, trying to unpack who this Jesus was as an historical person is a daunting task. 

“You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it.” ― Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”

This is a tribute to all healthcare workers battling the Covid-19 pandemic, sung by members from Canterbury & Coventry Choirs.

Deep-rooted, systemic racism and other forms of exclusivity, potential reparations, and related issues are complex and will take strong yet peaceful activism, advocacy, and commitment to satisfactorily address.

A feature-length documentary, presents the remarkable life story of the Gandhian eco-activist and agro-ecologist, Vandana Shiva. And, a documentary about the Green Belt Movement of Kenya and its founder Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist and first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

O God, who does love me / And brought me to birth
With me through my childhood / You welcomed my mirth
I still can remember / When to you I would pray
You promised to love me / To never skip a day

Is Mr. Long, the monster who brought suffering and sorrow to Atlanta, simply the product of a racist, misogynistic socio-political environment; the victim of mental illness, the prisoner of a defective personal genome he has no control over?

We believe in a radically inclusive Gospel, one that compels us to take courage and press ahead. Today we stand at the beginning of a new era—ready to meet its challenges, as we always have, with everything we are. We are PSR. Unafraid Since 1866.

On Palm Sunday, there were two parades: one representing oppressive Roman Imperial Theology and one representing the compassion and selfless love of the Reign of God. Join Co-Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org Rev. Dr. Caleb J Lines as he talks about the 8th Point of Progressive Christianity in relation to Palm Sunday.

From within this pandemic wilderness of Lent, we must prepare ourselves to enter our second Holy Week in lockdown. At a time, when so much of our focus revolves around the hope generated by the arrival of vaccines, it occurs to me that we would do well to remember to vaccinate ourselves against more than just COVID.

The award-winning author of “Grateful” goes beyond the culture wars to offer a refreshing take on the comprehensive, multi-faceted nature of Jesus, keeping  his teachings relevant and alive in our daily lives.

r. Joan’s lectures on The Public Intellectual open up a new awareness that illuminates a blind spot that can develop for progressive thinkers. Traditional liberals have typically focused on critical thinking about biblical exploration and constructive theology. The unintended consequence of such an academic focus has been to overlook the reformative power of what can happen when this debate is held not behind closed doors, but in the public square.

Before we can move on, though, we need to be honest with ourselves. Before we can get to the prayer, “Create in me a clean heart” (51.10), we have to face our sins. Saying, “Create in me a clean heart,” reflects an inner desire for God’s purification. The words are a confession of our need for change. It’s so easy to point to the killer, the public official who said the wrong words, the rioters at the Capitol, the conspiracy theorists, and the anti-vaxxers. We say, They’re the ones with a problem. They are the hateful ones. Not me.

Randomness produces the beauty of the snowflake, the security of encryption, the method of evolution, and now, the deadly COVID variants. Randomness is both neutral and powerful. It shapes our universe, our lives, and our deaths.

I have been thinking about the ending of Luke’s gospel. Luke’s ending (24:1-53) is based on Mark’s ending (16:1-20) and is a modified and magnified version of it. When this is realized one can work out how Luke’s ending developed into its final form. Also one needs to understand that during this period of development a pro-Peter group had become powerful in Rome.

Since 1936 the Lemurian Fellowship, headquartered in Ramona, California, has spread these teachings to individuals longing to fulfill their true place in life, build noble character, and find inner peace and satisfaction.

O God, let us take in the moment of this day of crucifixion, not remembering it in the context of what came after it, but how it left Jesus’ disciples and followers in tragic sadness and heart-wrenched disillusionment.

Death does not speak the final word. Resurrection does. Christianity stands or falls with this central confession: God raised Jesus from the dead.

Listen to Matthew Fox and Bruce Chilton as they explore the meaning of Easter in a two-session event hosted by Cameron Trimble. These conversations were recorded and are available now for purchase.

Exploiting the earth manifests in a number of ways including environmental racism. Listen to Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines discuss Point 7 of Progressive Christianity: protecting and restoring the integrity of the Earth.

Emotions are feelings. They happen naturally. Emotions are our response to being alive. As we are human–alive and awake–we have interactions with the world, and we experience emotions. Expressing emotions in a healthy manner is the birthright of every human being.

While you can choose to believe in anything, I think faith requires a little more structure. Something more rigid. Something with tradition and maybe even ritual. Something with, God forbid, rules. For a while the faith we choose, or make up, is dependent on the limits of our knowledge, culture and experience, so that faith, definitively chosen, or made up, limits our expression of free will as it imposes on us rules not to be violated.

Jesus may have been humble. But in the last couple of months, I’ve learned a thing or two about donkeys. And I can say this: Jesus wasn’t humble because he rode into town on a donkey. A donkey is as noble an animal as any horse.

In appreciation of the Capitol Police who defended Democracy on January 6.

The following church service was conducted by George Stuart at Toronto New South Wales in Australia March 2021.

Sugar Maples remind us to tap into our core in transitional seasons when life itself sometimes hangs in the balance, tossed to-and-fro between the fluctuating extremes of faith and doubt, sickness and health, or fear and courage. Crises tend to dim and blind our exterior self as we awaken to and free fall toward our inner self, and with it the few things that matter.

Sixty-two percent of white evangelicals believe there was widespread voter fraud in the recent election, and sixty-three percent see Biden’s victory as illegitimate. Forty-one percent believe the violent insurrection on January 6th was an appropriate action taken to remedy the problem.

In light of several state efforts to deny gender affirming care and the Catholic Church’s pronouncement against marriage this week, take a moment and listen to Co-Executive Director Rev. Dr. Caleb J Lines explain why God loves and affirms all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

For Queer folks in the Christian world, experiencing hate, bigotry, and theological oppression is nothing new. In many cases we dwell in a space that is brimming with silence from half allies while simultaneously teaming with fodder from traditional elitists.

On this St. Patrick’s Day it is fitting to receive a blessing from a grand Irishman whose writing reaches into my soul.

A close reading of the gospels, particularly the crucifixion and resurrection accounts, suggests that Mary Magdalene had a prominent role in the ministry of Jesus.  Indeed, she was often referred to as “the apostle to the apostles.”

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.

Even as we consider all the facts, the basic story that emerges is quite simple. The disciples were re-born while they lived with Jesus, and his death neither deterred nor discouraged them.  Instead, they turned to one another and embraced, fully aware in their hearts that he was not only still with them, but also that the newness he embodied embraced the universe. This was the bedrock of their faith and forms the foundation for the day we call Easter.

The pendant is to be worn to promote a more conscious, compassionate, and charitable world, especially among the great religions of the world.  As the Dalai Lama has often said, “When there is peace among the religions, there will be peace in the world.” This quotation/affirmation is engraved around the outer edges of the pendant.

I used the n-word, repeating what one of my black friends said. I was told I was wrong for using it. My black friends use it a lot and around us all. Why was I wrong for using it?