Currently viewing the tag: "Christianity"

Once you were darkness, but…

By On September 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment

It’s halfway through September, and clearly I haven’t been writing on this blog. It is not because I haven’t been writing! On October 8th, the diocesan profile for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan’s bishop search process is scheduled to go live on our website. I didn’t write much of the profile, but [...]

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To Preach the Gospel, Words Are Necessary

By On July 18, 2012 · 6 Comments

It’s been an interesting few days since the end of The Episcopal Church’s General Convention. Media coverage of Convention has sparked almost as much online discussion as Convention itself. As I’ve watched the conversation, one thing has become clear to me: right now, words are necessary to preach the gospel.

For a long time, I [...]

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The Higgs Boson and Christian Theology

By On July 4, 2012 · 16 Comments

This morning brings news of the discovery of a subatomic particle that resembles the Higgs boson. I last studied physics in 1986, so I confess that I am not entirely clear on the magnitude of this discovery. As I read the New York Times article, these two sentences stood out:

Confirmation of the [...]

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Evangelism After Christendom

By On July 3, 2012 · 1 Comment

Here’s a new resource: The Church Army‘s Sheffield Center Online Library of Evangelism Research. Free papers on evangelism and fresh expressions. Finally, a research hub for thinking about new ways of being church. Granted, they’re in the United Kingdom, which they describe this way: “Britain after Christendom is becoming [...]

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A Time to be Pruned

By On May 14, 2012 · 17 Comments

Tom Ferguson recently posted a manifesto on the coming collapse of the Episcopal Church.  I was relieved to read it.  Perhaps because the numbers are so daunting, we’ve been reluctant to name the elephant in the middle of the room.  But if we don’t name it, we won’t be able to discuss [...]

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We begin again in love.

By On April 4, 2012 · 9 Comments

Once upon a time, I started a blog, very, very quietly. As in, I told no one. It occurred to me that having a blog (writing in public) and telling absolutely no one about it (keeping it private) were somewhat paradoxical. Okay, okay: they were completely self-contradictory and demonstrated a conflicted mind.

On the one [...]

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Ain’t I A Christian?

By On March 29, 2012 · 4 Comments

There’s an interesting conversation developing around the Internet today about what the word “Christian” means.  On Salon.com, there’s an article called “Where are the normal Christians?“  A similar sentiment (“When did ‘Christian become a synonym for ‘Conservative Evangelical?‘”) is referenced at the New [...]

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Bloom Church: Actual Innovation!

By On March 24, 2012 · 3 Comments

Apparently I am writing an occasional series on innovative ways to share life in Christ.  Like so much about blogging, I didn’t plan on this.  But new models intrigue me, and I happen to know they intrigue a few other folks also.  (Also, it beats

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The stone the builders rejected

By On February 28, 2012 · 5 Comments

The Internet has changed human society. Agreed? Very loosely quoting David Trobisch, there are three industries that are in the process of completely reinventing their outward forms in order to stay relevant: higher education, publishing, and the church. (Another way to say this is that these three institutions seem to be dying.)

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Lent at Home

By On February 28, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Lent has begun.  Our family and some in our congregation are experimenting with “Lent in a Bag,” a resource inspired by a posting on the National Association of Episcopal Christian Education Directors e-list (recently renamed “forma”).  At the beginning of last week, I gathered Lenten symbols and wrote very short [...]

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