In the pursuit of ‘Truth-Telling’, I believe the church has some difficult ‘Truth-Telling’ to do about our past particularly regarding our sacred book, the Bible.  Why the Bible?  Because it comes to us from our somewhat distant church past.  This ‘Truth-Telling’ is not absent but I believe it has to be far more obvious to the general public and also needs to be given more voice within the church to help our members confront the issues this ancient book raises.  By this, I believe the church may gain again some credibility in our world today.

First we have to talk about the elephant in the room – though that might not be the
most polite term for Jesus!  For many millions of people around the world, Jesus is the
Son of God, the divine source of their salvation, his story told in the familiar four
gospels of the Bible, and any tampering with that story understandably will be met
with suspicion, distrust, even hostility.

The battle for the soul of America rages on, now focusing on Thanksgiving. On the one hand are those who offer the image of peace and harmony between Europeans and Indigenous people, on the other those who remind us of the savagery of the Europeans as they sought to exterminate the inhabitants of the land. Which is it?

A powerful reminder that the gospel is a subversive message that challenges oppression and calls us to be on the side of the marginalised.

David, Debo, and Catherine Young talk with D.L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation board member Rev. Peter Laarman about structural racism in America and how that racism plays into religion.

Pope Francis has expressed support for civil unions in the Catholic Church. Once again, the pontiff has sent shockwaves across the globe to 1.3 billion of his followers with another LGBTQ- affirming statement. However, this one might very well create talks of a schism in the Catholic Church, as we have seen in Protestant ones.

Power begets power and institutions that are rife with power will increasingly resist change, reform, or moral responsibility. An excellent example of this is the perception that protesting police killings and violence as being inherently “anti-police” just as protesting the Catholic Church’s history of hiding pedophilia as well as the rape and forced abortions common among nuns in their relationships with priests is decried as being “anti-Catholic.”

To step away from a dogma or faith tradition that does not resonate with you is one of the bravest and most important things you can do.

We don’t know how it happened. A small band that practiced justice and equality for all became an institution that demanded slaves obey their owners, women obey their husbands, and everyone obey the wealthy elite.

In churches, I often find myself contemplating the cross.  It is a kind of “visio divina” – another way of climbing Guigo’s ladder, through seeing.  It becomes the means of focus, and the focus itself, of worship.  It centers and guides me toward the life-giving Love that is God….

I have done considerable reading and spent a lot of time reflecting on my own faith journey in my retirement. Much of the church’s theology no longer has meaning for me, but my faith in Jesus’ call to “Follow me,” is my inspiration and draws me to love the world and its people.

Jesus asked a lot of questions. Ask questions like, was Jesus a Christian?  If you read through the Bible thoroughly and the Gospels a few times, what do you notice really mattered to Jesus? How did he live his life? What was his view of money? His relationship to power and privilege?

I don’t know if we can talk about religion and politics now. The moment to do so productively, openly, and with grace may have passed. There is so much hatred, so much anger, and so much division. We’ve forgotten how to listen. It doesn’t have to be this way. I long for something more, for the beautiful words to guide us to a better America.

The church is not now nor has ever been monolithic in its mission, vision, doctrines, and missional intent. As an educator, I wonder if you’re disappointed because the Christian Church has been influenced by Western ideology and Eurocentric beliefs in supremacy and not justice for all of its citizens.

While protests verge on becoming riots in our city streets in response to multiple murders of unarmed black men at the hands of our cities’ police, we must focus on how to pull racism out of our culture by the roots.

As this book affirms, God continues to be the great conundrum, the great mystery, the great challenge of human existence. Paradoxically, while people have long claimed to doubt the existence of God, God is still the most important reality in the world.

For centuries now, standing for literalistic readings of the Bible and standing against science have been baked into the recipe of what it means to be a conservative Protestant, and since the 1980’s, it’s gotten worse, as hard-core Fundamentalists have staged a near-complete takeover of the Evangelical movement.

Freedom to decide what element(s) of your weekly life hinder, or simply strain your relationship with God. Whatever the answer is, that’s the thing that should be put on rest.