Ecclesio.com

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the Accra Confession. Representatives of the member churches of the Alliance of Presbyterian

  “My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?

NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR: It’s Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly week on ecclesio.com.  All three of the candidates standing for

NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR: It’s Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly week on ecclesio.com.  All three of the candidates standing for

NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR: It’s Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly week on ecclesio.com.  All three of the candidates standing for

Reflection on the future role of the church in South Africa is not possible without looking critically at past trends.

South Africans went to vote on the 7th of May 2014. The elections provide opportunity to reflect upon the role

Courage is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is courage in the

It is sometimes very easy for us to be hard on our ancestors and the decisions that they made.  With

Observation #1: Theological Education of Public Leaders is Becoming More Plural in its Forms and at the Same Time More

Week after week as I serve Christ’s church, I see theological education from some varied venues.  As a pastor I

When I told someone that I was asked to reflect on the future of theological education, I was asked, “Is

Writing at the end of the 1960’s, Canadian author Pierre Burton observed that theological education, rather than serving as a

Whether you are reading news from the Association of Theological Schools, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, blogs on NEXT Church,

I teach a course called “Christian Story: II” which is a general education requirement for students at Northwestern.  As part

(Christian Zionism:  Origins and Impact, Part 2) It is interesting and instructive to note that the most vocal and politically

Note:  This article owes a good deal to the research and writing of the Rev. Dr. Stephen Sizer, whose doctoral

America, in part, owes its national identity to the prevalence of powerful myths that arose out of its early history.

So I’ve made clear many of my thoughts on Reza Aslan’s book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of

This is a repost, with permission, from http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column.php?n=2726  When I saw that Reza Aslan’s portrait of “Jesus, Zealot: The Life and

My wife and I just saw the movie American Hustle.  The film begins thus: “Some of this actually happened.” Reza

Reza Aslan’s book first came to my attention via The Daily Show, where he was interviewed by John Oliver, who

I love this week. Not because it’s the busiest and most intense week for a church musician, but because it

Ubi Caritas The title “Maundy Thursday” comes from the so-called mandatum: “I give you a new commandment, that you love

Bach’s two surviving settings of the passion narrative (1685-1750) are filled with musical-spiritual treasures and both add richly to the

The Season of Lent/Holy Week and Easter is my favorite time of the liturgical church year, especially as a church

The content of the Holy Week narrative is vast, ranging from the dubious celebration of Palm Sunday, to solemn and

There’s a neighborhood in Kansas City called Columbus Park.  As the name suggests, it was settled by Italian immigrants, around

“You must be a pontiff!” WHAT? What did he say? For over half an hour I had been listening to

Each congregation is a mission post. Each doorstep and the surrounding area is the mission field. Mission fields are no

The missional church conversation has been a difficult one to grasp on a congregational level because of our proclivity for

In the summer of 2009, eager to take advantage of the $8000 President Obama was offering to first time homebuyers,

Twenty-two years ago my U-Haul van and I, a new Ph.D., arrived in Detroit. I came to teach Christian ethics.

AND I THINK FRANK AND JUSTIN GET THIS! Never intending this to actually be an insert within this reflection, in

Several years ago, I was on vacation when a friend of mine invited me to guest preach at his church

Carrying the manners of the sacraments with us, for we are called out and sent out, so people can see

Probably in no other Christian tradition is food more integrated into sacramental and spiritual life than in Greek Orthodox Christianity.

“When they came to Emmaus, he acted as if he was going on ahead. But they urged him, saying, ‘Stay

Across communities in the United States and around the world, my primary identifier is that I am black, and not

As a child and a youth, I was so sure of who I was.  I did not have a name

For most of my life I understood gender to be a clear, binary concept.  You were either male.  Or you

My mother was worried that I would look like a woman.  Well probably not… but that is what she said

Dominant United States culture holds that there are two easily identifiable genders, which match up with two easily identifiable sexes. 

Before I truly begin this post, I need to be honest: speculation makes me uncomfortable. Why? Because I don’t like

While there is a multitude of things the church needs to work on to become aligned with who Christ calls

In 50 years, our church and our spiritual lives will be messier than ever. I say this because I believe

Nathan: It’s very likely that in 2064 the Presbyterian Church will be searching for truth. Hopefully, there are a lot

If you had asked an incoming Presbyterian seminarian in 1964 what he expected the church of 2014 to be like,

On the south side of the Lower Trenton Bridge are large, neon-lit letters that read, “Trenton makes, the world takes.”

A number of studies have shown that among adult males, perhaps the greatest predictor of violent crime is joblessness.  Similarly,

In this article I argue that recent patterns of racial profiling and incarceration are normative behaviors authorized by the predominantly

I began teaching a class of 28 prisoners at a maximum-security prison in New Jersey during the first week of

Written and Directed by: Spike Jonze The first time I saw a trailer for Her, I immediately thought, “That’s not

Written by: Bob Nelson, Directed by: Alexander Payne “Where are you going? Where are you coming from?” For Woody Grant

Written by: Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack; Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallee Dallas Buyers Club is a story of desperation and

Screenplay written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, based on the book by Martin Sixsmith This is not a movie

Director’s Note: This week we discuss Ken Cuthbertson’s new book, The Last Presbyterian? Remembering the Faith of our Forebears (Wipf

Director’s Note:  This week we discuss Ken Cuthbertson’s new book, The Last Presbyterian? Remembering the Faith of our Forebears (Wipf

Director’s Note:  This week we discuss Ken Cuthbertson’s new book, The Last Presbyterian? Remembering the Faith of our Forebears (Wipf

Director’s Note:  This week we discuss Ken Cuthbertson’s new book, The Last Presbyterian? Remembering the Faith of our Forebears (Wipf

The Last Presbyterian? is a theological memoir, a charming reflection and remembrance of ways of life that have, in the

I admit, I am biased about how much I love Funshine Daycare and Preschool. Our children have been raised there.

Guest Director’s Note: Micah Bales and I were introduced to one another through Rev. Brian Merritt in the heat of

Guest Director’s Note: Jody and I met as mothers bringing our children to speech therapy four years ago.  We could

Guest Director’s Note: Denise Anderson and I found each other through colleagues and presbytery meetings!  She has invited me to

What is concierge ministry?  Consider placing a broad ministerial lens onto this definition:  A concierge is an employee of an

Over the past 12 years, my call in ministry has been to the bayous of Louisiana, home to communities that

Climate change is upon us. Regardless of the symptoms, the diagnosis by experts is almost unanimous; the planet is warming

One mark of the Christian community is that we gather regularly for Holy Communion. People of all walks of life

It’s been said, by environmentalists from Al Gore to Daniel Quinn, that a frog put in a pot of slowly

Climate change is a reality that simply cannot be denied any longer. 97% of scientists agree that the changes in

This week we celebrated the ministry of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr and those who, like him, understood that

I have a special affinity to Martin Luther King, Jr. with whom I share a birth day–he was born 30

Poverty is, as King so aptly articulated in his Nobel Lecture, “one of the most urgent items on the agenda

Director’s Note: We had announced that the new season of ecclesio.com would debut on January 20, 2014.  This would have

As we approach the end of Advent and the beginning of the season of Christmas, we await with great anticipation

“For nothing will be impossible with God. Then Mary said, ‘Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it

For the second year in a row, I’ll celebrate Christmas twice. Once with my congregation in suburban Palo Alto, and

Editor’s note:  Our subject this week is MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s book, Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family’s Experiment with Holy

Editor’s note:  Our subject this week is MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s book, Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family’s Experiment with Holy

MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s Sabbath in the Suburbs is, by now, more than a year from its publication date, a popular

I am earning a living by being a chaplain in a Maximum Security Correctional Centre in South Africa.  Crime does

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice… For the Lord is near.” Philippians 4:4-5 It’s that time of

            There’s a song in the air,             There’s a star in the sky!             There’s a mother’s deep prayer,

There is a minor question floating about in web-space: Who do atheists thank if they don’t thank God? Their answer

CHALLENGE: The time has come for each one of us who claims to be a follower, believer, disciple of Christ

Grew up in the church, saved at 11 and surrounded by Christians all my life, however, nothing prepared me for

A Djembe in A Tassa Ensemble – when this title was handed to me by Rev. Ashwood, I honestly had

What is your image of a missionary? In particular a Christian missionary? When I picture Christian missionaries I see an

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God . . . and became Flesh and dwelt among

I pray…that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, as we are being rooted and grounded in love.   (from

What I’m wondering now, some two years after the vote in my denomination, (the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) to remove the

From Family Systems to Compassionate Communication In the 1950s an army medical officer turned psychiatrist, Murray Bowen, had a hunch

It is rare to find a book in practical theology that is both so practical and so theological.  I want

I have served as a spiritual care coordinator at a human services agency, as an associate pastor, as a seminary

In the process of writing my book, I’ve interviewed dozens of widows about their grief and loss. Eventually, I started

One of the challenges of widows, my friend and co-author Kristin Meekhof and I hypothesized when we began researching and

When my friend and co-author Kristin Meekhof and I began interviewing widows for a book we are writing about helping