my dear friend & ministry partner recently attended a local leaders gathering and messaged me with a text that essentially said this: “not one woman speaker, presenter, pray-er, anything-at-all-er. see, i am starting to notice it!” i wrote him back, “yep, it’s real, and it sucks and thanks for noticing.” also this week i heard […]
Read Morewhat if…
i was at a really lovely meeting a few weeks ago with a bunch of pastors, and it was wonderfully hopeful except for one thing–there were only three female pastors and a whole lot of white male ones, and not one person of color. even though i know this is reality, it still always startles […]
Read More10 ways we can build bridges instead of bomb them
today is the april synchroblog and a theme i am really glad we’re tackling together: bridging the divides. the schism within christianity between those of a more liberal persuasion and those from a more conservative one keep getting bigger & bigger. as a post-evangelical mutt, i notice how hard it is to engage in these […]
Read Morepost-traumatic church syndrome is Real (and worthy of a capital letter)
there’s a new book coming out later this year by reba riley called “post-traumatic church syndrome: a humorous memoir of healing, hope, and 30 religions before 30”. i don’t know much about the book yet, but i am really looking forward to reading it. i do know that the facebook group called “post-traumatic church syndrome” has […]
Read Morethe difference between "cultivating communities" and "building churches"
i originally wrote this post in 2010, and it’s part of down we go. but in the past couple of weeks i’ve had some interesting conversations that reminded me of it and i thought i’d pare it down and re-post it. it’s funny, still, after these years, my thought is pretty much the same except […]
Read Morehealers, bridge-builders, and community cultivators
it was a great weekend at transform 2014 in san diego. it was lovely & inspiring hanging out with old friends & making some new ones, and on my middle-of-the-night-and-trying-to-stay-awake drive from san diego to LAX to catch a morning standby flight that ended up getting cancelled, i had a lot of time to reflect. and […]
Read Morethe kingdom of God is like…
way back when i said i was going to share more about what happens in our living room on wednesday nights at our house of refuge gathering, which has been happening since the beginning of the refuge in 2006. i never seem to get around to it, but this week i thought i’d take a […]
Read Morerock boats, upset apple carts, ruffle feathers. it's worth it.
saturday was international women’s day. i wrote this post that morning but never got around to posting it so it’s going up today. i have written about it in the past–we just can’t stand by & the power of being wanted & belonging, and for a few consecutive years i shared why i am an advocate for […]
Read Morebreaking our american hearts
this past friday night we hosted a theology camp called “the radical welcome of God: wisdom from benedictine spirituality.” two nuns from benet hill monastery shared their hearts & stories & practices with us. it was beautiful in more ways than i can count. my amazing friend & local spiritual director ellen haroutunian facilitated questions for the […]
Read Morewhen our christian faith is questioned
many years ago i had a friend who was concerned about my salvation. it appeared that my position that “we were made in the image of God and there is good in us despite our sin” freaked her out in light of her position on total depravity. there’s much more to the story, but toward […]
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