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 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 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 Morea decade?
happy new year! i’ve been sick this week, but i realized earlier this week that today marks my 10 year anniversary of entering into full-time-vocational “ministry.” a decade, that’s wild. i told jose that and he laughed and said “it feels like 100, especially those first couple of years!” honestly, our marriage took a beating […]
Read Morewhat seems to help in the midst of pain
“when we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. the friend who can be silent with us […]
Read Moreequality & friendship changes everything.
last week i was at an evening centered on rape & the old testament, and it was really powerful to look at the texts through a new lens. the most interesting part to me was that in the conversation afterward somehow, some way, we ended up in the same place i always do when talking […]
Read Morethe road to equality is paved with friendship.
* this post is part of the february synchroblog. this month’s topic is centered around cross-gender friendships, a topic i have written a lot about over the years. the link list for other bloggers writing on this topic this month are below so check them out. also, i am excited to be part of this year’s […]
Read More"i just feel like i'm one of the guys" and other subtleties working against equality
last week i read a post on a friend’s facebook page about the emergence christianity gathering in memphis. i wasn’t there so i can’t speak into anything that happened there, but she made an interesting observation that caught my eye. when addressed with a question about gender inequality in emergence christianity, several of the female speakers […]
Read Morethree things about one word: power
power is a hard thing to talk about. as Christ-followers, it is even trickier because Jesus was so anti-typical-power that talking about it can be misconstrued. i feel this sometimes when i am advocating for women’s empowerment (and others, too, who are underrepresented) because it can be perceived as being contrary to humility. some also […]
Read More