There’s no cookie-cutter answer to that question. There’s no one “secret sauce” to sprinkle on a church to bring it alive. But from each other, churches can discover ingredients for the recipes for vitality that will work for them. 

There are choral anthems, congregational hymns and songs and instrumental music for progressive faith settings. The website’s blog, “Resonate!” will offer thoughts on communal music and music-making.

Jesus you’ve got to be kidding! “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even life itself, cannot be my disciple?…None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions?”

Racism is discrimination with systemic, social power behind it. Racism is more than just one individual rejecting another based on superficial criteria.

What if Jesus was not divine? … Some will hear this as liberating good news, and others may find this to be shocking and disheartening. Still, the best path for any faith community is to follow the truth where it leads.

I Found God in Me is the first womanist biblical hermeneutics reader. In it readers have access, in one volume, to articles on womanist interpretative theories and theology as well as cutting-edge womanist readings of biblical texts by womanist biblical scholars.

We knit our hearts and intentions together in this solemn moment to resolve individually and as family, friends, and community to honor and support these two in the vows they now make.

Despite the fact that 1 in 5 American adults experienced a mental health issue; despite the fact that 1 in 10 young people experienced a period of major depression; despite the fact that 1 in 25 Americans lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression; we are either afraid of or reluctant to or maybe just indifferent about talking about mental health.

To the Hawaiians, Aloha means “God in us.”

The Center for Open and Relational Theology exists to promote… open and relational thinking, networking among like-minded people, projects that build upon or advance open and relational ideas, announce news, and provide open and relational theology resources.

Though our culture tends to praise youth while apparently being embarrassed by aging (offering a multi-billion dollar industry to hide it) the ancient sages did not see it that way. In fact, even though very many young people are very smart, it is difficult to be wise without first living a long time. The aged, according to Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Marcus Aurelius owe a debt of meaningful guidance to the world. Those who can retire should retire to something rather than simply retiring from work.

“Ingenuity” introduces a theology and practice of preaching that emerges from the faith and wisdom of black women. Preaching has been resourced and taught from a narrow field of cultural or gendered experiences, historically. Without much support from established channels, black women are left to “figure it out” on their own, and others discern how to preach from a limiting scope.

This little video of Richard Holloway on “Why doubt is a good thing” provides insights for preaching on doubt as the foundation of faith!!!

There was a time when neither Jesus nor his followers thought of or described him as God. Why is it that so many Christians are now required to confess that Jesus was always God?

A school district in Pennsylvania, in attempt to collect about $20,000 (against an $8 million budget) of unpaid lunch room bills, sent letters to parents with accounts in arrears threatening to have their children placed in foster care if they did not pay. It forces us to wonder how people whose careers are in the care and nurture of children could become so callous and lost?

PATHWAYS Theological Education, Inc., is a Progressive Christian learning community seeking to empower transformative leadership for justice and peace within and beyond the church by engaging heart and mind to consider what it means to know, love and serve God in today’s changing world. 

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.

For Jesus, for Gandhi, for Dr. King, for the 3.4 billion people who participated in non-violent resistance in the 20th century, pacifism isn’t… well, passive. It is active and creative and frequently uses systems of domination against themselves. Those of us who wish to follow the teachings of Jesus should look to the early church and their non-violent practices and then spend more time understanding how this works and then, ultimately, replicate it in our lives.