It’s been an interesting paradox of a Thanksgiving week. The joy of having our kids all home for the holiday and not wanting to think of anything other than being together, contrasted with the reality of the painful events in Ferguson and what it means for all of us. As a white woman of […]
Read Morepower & transformation.
This month’s Synchroblog was centered on spiritual abuse & redemption. I didn’t have time to write earlier but it is a topic near and dear to my heart. At the Denver Faith and Justice Conference two weekends ago my friend Ryan Taylor shared about 5 stages of power, a blend of Janet Hagberg and Richard Rohr’s work […]
Read Morelistening in on some faith shift conversations.
Some of you may already know about The Work of the People and the interesting and beautiful material they have. Interviews, visual liturgies, and all kinds of other awesomeness abound on their site. If you don’t subscribe yet, it’s so worth it. There is so much beauty and hope packed in there! My personal favorites are the Jean […]
Read Moresurvival of the fittest church
A few months ago I made a big plate of nachos for all of the kids. Within 10 minutes, they were devoured and I made a joke about how life around here is like “survival of the fittest.” The strongest and most-able-to-elbow-everyone-out-to-get-the-guacamole wins. The past few weeks, I also talked to some amazing pastors & […]
Read Morewomen, men & church: what hurts, what helps
Two fridays ago The Refuge hosted our first “Beyond Seminary: Moving Theology into Practice” gathering. Our amazing friend and seminary professor Dr. Deborah Loyd facilitated and we were challenged, encouraged, inspired in all kinds of ways. There were 25 of us there, 21 women and 4 men. Yep. That was a little hard for me but […]
Read Moreall roads lead to power.
I don’t usually wake up thinking of the word “power”, but I do often wake up thinking about: My friends living on the fringe. Those who are trying to leave or heal from abusive relationships. People I know from all over the place who are healing from “church”. The realities of mental illness. The women I […]
Read Moreshame, systems, and spiritual abuse.
I have been fringe-following the whole Mark Driscoll thing for years. In fact, over 8 years ago when we were starting The Refuge, some random person told my partner-in-this-crazy-endeavor about the Acts 29 Network and that “we should consider joining because they might have planting money for us.” He had no idea what Acts 29 […]
Read Morethird way practices.
once in a while i click on a facebook link that i sort of know i shouldn’t read but do anyway (you know that feeling?) and yeah, i usually end up groaning. sure enough, i clicked on the “there’s no third way” post by al mohler, who agrees with tony jones that when it comes […]
Read Morean evangelical and a progressive walk into a church…
it’s been a crazy week around here with my oldest son and my second son (third child) graduating from college and high school on the same day, at the same time, in different states. we made it through, though, and it was filled with all kinds of wonderful memories. in 4 more years, jose and […]
Read More10 tangible ways we can work toward equality in the church.
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 […]
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