Ecclesio.com

A few days after the arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks café on April 12, I posted

“Jesus AND Justice.” Bishop Yvette Flunder, the presiding prelate for The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), uses this phrase over

We teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the Bible is a primary text in most classes. For

Photo above: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez reacts during her speech at a rally for gun control at

Photo above: The latest painting by UK-based grafitti artist Banksy on the Separation Wall in Bethlehem depicts two angels trying

Photo above: Palestinian children celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem and wearing the Keffiyeh (scarf) which is the key symbol of Palestinian resistance.

What about the economy in the city? How do we define the economy? Is it totally based upon finances? Some

I’ve lost track of the number of times I have chanted that grammatically suspect phrase on a strike line or

Our cities are becoming a tale of two cities – one for the low and middle income, the other for

It has been over a decade, but I still recall walking through the airport to return to seminary following my

I once went to a supervisor with a difficult request. Purse strings at my home were incredibly tight, and I

I am editing this piece just after a man came up to me at a presbytery meeting, looked me over,

            There’s a song in the air,             There’s a

My wife and I have recently moved to the tropics, to Tumaini University Makumira near Arusha, Tanzania. We are so

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now

“You don’t seem happy here, and we know that God wants you to be happy.” In the midst of a

Aunque pareciera una afirmación innecesaria, la realidad es que aún cuando este año en EEUU sentimos los aleteos del cambio

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make

In the spring of 2014, my children came home from school with a plant seedling that I did not recognize

Job 2:11-13, Luke 24:13-35   From the Guest Director: In Advent, we are waiting for the coming of the Christ

Throughout our history, the dominant culture has created a culture of terror in tandem with an ideology of inferiority and

This past spring semester, I taught a course in which Angela Sims’ book Lynched was an assigned text. For three

I was struck by the size, textures, and limbs of the monochromatic picture of the tree on the cover.  A

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I wrote Lynched: The Power of Memory in a Culture of Terror in part to

The following reflection is one of three that I shared as part of a hymn festival commemorating the 500th anniversary

Twenty years ago, as an eager, optimistic college student, I spent the summer teaching English in Hong Kong for the

I grew up as an MK—a “mission kid”—in Asia, doing all my elementary school in Taiwan and all my high

A few weeks after arriving to Peru a local TV reporter asked me for an interview. It was early 2009.

At one of many worship services that commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the

I happily accepted the opportunity to curate the conversation on inclusion and African American ministerial leadership in dominant-culture spaces.  I

It was a beautiful Sunday in the Pacific Northwest and I was preaching my candidate sermon at a 125 year-old

When I first answered the call to ministry, I remember that my biggest desire was to be a bridge builder.

Being a pastor in a mainline denomination is lonely. It’s a unique calling with personal and professional expectations that are

God is real.  God is alive.  Interested.  Involved.  Loving.  Compassionate and gracious.  Every moment of our lives, God sustains each

The Problem of Wealth urges people of faith to make a paradigm shift. “Instead of asking why some people are

Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty’s book, The Problem of Wealth: A Christian Response to a Culture of Affluence, presents many challenges and thought-provoking

Judaism is a religion built on justice and our word for justice is tzedakah. Walking to lunch with a good

I grew up knowing that I was poor. My awareness of my poverty was not easy.  Like other immigrants to

Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty’s The Problem of Wealth makes an important addition to interventions into questions of wealth disparity, economic injustice, and

Why begin a discussion about wealth inequalities and poverty from the perspective that the problem is wealth?  There are enough

As I sat with the theme for this series – “Preaching Across the Divide(s)” – I let the metaphor at

We have systemic problems, which is to say the problems facing the church and all of humanity are a series

How in the world do we respond to the continual societal stresses as shepherds? How do we respond to our

Just before the 2012 presidential election in the United States, CNN posted to its website an article by John Blake

The musical Fiddler on the Roof tells the story of Tevye, a Russian Jewish milkman with five daughters. As each of the

I’ve been in professional fundraising now at a seminary for approximately three years. I came into the role believing I

Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.  – 1 Corinthans 4:1-7 Hanna

Note: This post is adapted from a post the author wrote in 2013 for ON Scripture, entitled, “Shrewd Christians.” The

I’ve been reading In Pursuit of the Almighty’s Dollar:  A History of Money and American Protestantism by J.H. Beumler. It’s

I sat with my friend and fellow scholar, Akanisi Tarabe, in my Fijian living room. Ms. Tarabe, a sociologist by

My life as a Christian began by being born into a faithful Christian family and my father, who became a

Ministry can be lone ranger work. I’m not a lone ranger sort of person. I crave connection and the professional

It has been my honor to participate in WCRC’s General Council 2017 this time. The issue of women’s ordination has

I have been engaged with the global Reformed community since 2004 when I attended a General Council meeting of the

During my freshman year of high school, I had a powerful experience at a Presbyterian youth conference that led me

Quietly sobbing on the other end of the phone, the young pastor finally felt safe enough to let go of

I was 19 years old when I first walked into Dr. Morven Baker’s office. My inability to consistently sleep or

What I remember most vividly is my horror at the idea that I might even consider shooting my sister. I

Climate change is going to be a series of painful reality checks. By this I mean, we are going to

“Where are you going? Why are you here? Do you know these men? Don’t lie to me.” These were some

It’s been a month, a month and a few hours, since and I and three elders from Mercy Junction Justice

Non-violence: it’s often framed around what we are not going to do.  We are not going to use firearms or other

We are pleased to announce that a thoughtful and articulate group of colleagues and friends will guest direct this fall!

After more than a year of imagination, prayer, thought, conversation, and discernment, we are ready to move onto our next

Asian immigrants experience a betwixt-and-between predicament, which serves as resource for a creative rethinking of cultural traditions —both native and

Sitting at my friend’s kitchen table, we talk about me writing this piece. I explain how “stuck” I feel and

  “To dismantle the injustice of white privilege, we must first recognize it … those institutions that maintain white privilege

Embracing the Other: The Transformative Spirit of Love. Eerdmans, 2015   When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, it

Despite understandings of women as helpmeet and co-creative presence with the Divine, humanity prefers to focus on the “Curse of

One of my favorite podcasts is ‘Judge John Hodgeman,’ in which comedian John Hodgeman pontificates over somewhat trivial disputes between

Anyone who knows me knows I am grateful for the women on whose shoulders we (clergywomen) stand.  I am a

Dear Ms. DeVos, In December, I wrote you a letter as an introduction to those of us who teach in

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR: Patrick J. Kearney is a veteran teacher whose blogpost Open Letters to Secretary of Education

“The teachers I have loved most have grace. Their work is not proficiency and outcome – it’s poetry and ministry.” 

Strong walls make for safe rooms, sanctuary from the shifting winds that change one’s plans. Doors are entries or escapes,

I’m sure you, like me, remember proudly the political dialogue we as a nation underwent in 2016. It played out

We are a fearful and anxious people – at times even stiff-necked … as Martyr Stephen reminds us. We crave

Growing up in the rural South, we were not allowed to call people liars. We couldn’t even say “you lied.”

When asked about his experience attending a Christian college, a seminary friend told me how on the first day of

“What is truth?” asked Pontius Pilate of the one who is truth and life, just before murdering him. The most

Shortly after the Inauguration, The Federalist posted an article declaring Donald Trump the type of president a postmodern America should

“Jesus said, ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. 

At the end of every Sunday service, I include the following in my benediction: “Now that we’ve had church, let

my mind is swirling, whirling, twirling all over the place as I sit down to write an essay. How to

We praise you Holy God, infinite in power and majesty, yet somehow always God-with-us! Out of your outlandish creativity sprang

I write this essay in the shadow of denominational chaos for the United Methodist Church and in the shadow of

Worship is one of the spaces where we learn how to relate with God and each other. Worship often reinforces

As the Black Lives Matter movement grew, calling attention to deadly police violence against people of color that continues mostly

Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church (CHPC), Louisville, KY is a predominantly white congregation characterized by its progressive stance on social &

On April 8, 2017, Lisa Sallaj was out walking her daughter’s dog in central California when a man approached, kicked

A few weeks ago my young Black nephew, T. was playing with some other kids, most of whom were white.

It’s a really good thing that many discussions on racism in this country are focusing on the cause of the

On my third trip to Israel/Palestine this past winter, with the Keep Hope Alive (KHA) Program planting and picking olive

“I am one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  What I can do,

DAY 1: Palestinians love, respect, and need their Olive Trees. These ancient trees represent the Palestinians’ struggle to save their lands, homes,

Down the street from our Bethlehem hotel in the village of Beit Sahour was the studio of a Palestinian mosaic

In February 2017, Rev. Dr. Jeff DeYoe, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers, Florida, led a group on

How long will it take? How long? Not long, for no lie can live forever. Martin Luther King Jr., Montgomery,

  In part two of this series we examined early Christian responses to Islam.  We move the story now to

Early Christian Responses to the Advent of Islam             When the armies fueled by Islamic expansionism swept out of the