“Men on Boats” is more than just a belly of laughs about ten men in four boats surveying an uncharted canyon. “Men on Boats” is an eye-opening and provocative comedy/drama about the polemics of white cisgender male power and privilege to conquer the wilderness girded by their unflinching God-given belief in the 19th-century doctrine of Manifest Destiny to do so. Also, these men had the power and privilege to write America’s history of exploring westward to spread “democracy” by conquering anything and anyone in their way.

John Legend is a nine-time Grammy Award winning recording artist, critically-acclaimed concert performer, philanthropist/social activist, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

John Legend is a nine-time Grammy Award winning recording artist, critically-acclaimed concert performer, philanthropist/social activist, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

10 years ago a young Episcopal priest named Jimmy Bartz started an emergent mission church called Thads in Los Angeles. He wanted it to reach a multi-generational community of churched and unchurched people. Hunter Perrin and I began writing original music for the church not really knowing what would be acceptable but having to create music for the sermon each week. Hunter is a Texas guitarist and I am a singer heavily influenced by early southern R&B. We were encouraged to be original and no one tried to edit our musical approach so we wrote freely from what we loved and our musical influences came through in the songs. Other like minded musicians joined us and we became the Thads Band. Over the years the good songs have became the basis for the church hymnal and this website. The writing continues. We play what we’ve come to call Gospel Americana. Its a blend of gospel spirit and American roots music. ~Ian Jack, The Thad’s Band

  Musician, filmmaker, humanitarian, Michael Franti, is recognized as a pioneering force using music as a vehicle for positive change as well as his unforgettable, high energy shows with his band, Spearhead. Franti has a brand new …

Fifty years ago, this summer an urban rebellion took place. One hundred and fifty-nine riots erupted in African American cities across the country. The civil unrest took place in cities like New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Birmingham, and Boston, to name a few. The worst riots that summer were in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan.

The movie “Detroit” attempts to capture the eponymous riot of 1967.

it is the responsibility of each generation to create new works of art that reflect our realities and our values and, let’s be honest, our foibles. If our message is not more compelling than “Amazing Grace” and the “Old Rugged Cross,” how is anyone going to believe it is “good news” (gospel)? It’s hard work to convince people to accept new songs to love, but the effort is worth the challenge.

Yaima- Masaru Higasa and Pepper Proud

Research has shown that music has the power to change emotional states, perceptions, physiology and elevate spiritual awareness. Certain types of music, devotional and sacred in nature, also have the power to transform individual and collective consciousness into the heightened states of love, forgiveness, compassion and physical healing.

The world is in disarray. The changing climate sets a course towards catastrophe for the future of our children. Social inequality is growing. Populists and notorious liars are closing in on democracy’and racism creeps forward from all corners.

This is one of my favorite poems celebrating the unexpected splendor of new life out of anticipated death. Happy Easter, all you resurrection artists.

Listen to Boston Public Radio discussion of the painting and the outrage it has inspired with Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price.

When artist Dana Schutz presented “Open Casket,” an abstract painting of Emmett Till’s open casket-the Chicagoan 14 year old African American male teen lynched in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955- she could not have fathomed the conflagration that erupted.

The painting hangs at the Whitney Museum in New York City but under the daily watchful eye of protestors blocking its view they termed the “black death spectacle.” Some protesters sent letters of grievances to the museum curators requesting the painting be taken down and others have flatly demanded the destruction of it.

​We got bells! We got arches! Well, really now . . . Arches ‘n Bells is a skit, play, dialogue, monologue, reader’s theater, and litany provider for churches and faith communities. Our writers focus on producing high-quality ​resources from a progressive, grace-centered angle. All the stuff is downloadable for you to print and use. Oh . . . and we’re about fun too. Anybody going to the site should be able to see that. What’s more is that these works are intergenerational—they work with kids, teens, adults, and various subsections of a faith community’s demographics.

Feminism is liberation, and for that reason we must liberate ourselves from the oppression of capital. “Another feminism” isn’t a slogan, it’s a daily act, simple but strong. It’s transformation, it’s community. It’s freedom.

Inspired by the films of Terrence Malick and the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, the film tells the story of a young woman who is dealing with an intense case of spiritual doubt that has been building within her for quite some time. Plagued with nightmares, she arises early one morning, says a prayer by candlelight, and goes downstairs for a cup of tea and to quietly reflect on recent events. At this moment, we flashback to a worship service at her church. In a moment of frustration, she storms out, and is followed by a friend who confronts her and reminds her that doubt, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.

There are differences within diversity. This issue scratches below the superficial veneer of diversity and is an eerie reminder of how minority groups are often pitted against one another.

“For all Children and the Next 7 Gerenations, We Stand United with Standing Rock, All Waters of the Earth, and All Life.”