December 09, 2011
As protestors camp out in city parks across the nation over the last few
months, the word “occupation” has dominated the media. Here in Denver,
the Occupy movement is particularly vibrant, with many of the members
of the House for All Sinners and Saints community
participating, distributing supplies to protestors and homeless persons
alike. For these folks, “occupation” is merely an extension of their
sense of the prophetic aspects of their “vocation.”
What if the church learned from the Occupiers how to re-occupy and
re-claim our own space, the space of God? What if, by observing the
revolution on the streets, we also learned how to embrace the revolution
we already have, the revolution of grace upon the human heart? What
if, in renouncing the quick fix, the easy answer, and the jam-packed
schedule, we as a church discovered again for the first time the song,
the grand vocational fugue, God is singing through us to a tired and
over-taxed world?
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Site Coordinator
Young Adult Volunteer Program
Presbyterian Church (USA)
December 05, 2011
I want to add my voice among all of this Black Friday Holiday Gifts In Yo Face Must Have Deals Grouponcopious Ticking Time Bomb You Can’t Afford This Except for Today O M G Why Do We Do This Every Year Extreme Makeover Madness.
Gift-giving is great. Giving gifts that are meaningful is also great. But let’s be honest. If I were to tell you that instead of buying you something this year, I donated money to a charitable organization on your behalf, would we still be friends this time next year? Now you’re just envious of some Mongolian family who has a water buffalo that you could’ve used… or re-gifted to a co-worker. So instead of creating a spirit of covetousness, let’s meet in the middle...
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Co-Founder of Contemplatives in Action, New Orleans
November 15, 2011
So I went...to an extremely broken place and reality, because my friend had friends he wanted to help.
New Orleans’ entire infrastructure was compromised by hurricane and flood damage and our nation struggled to respond adequately with resources and more importantly, a plan for recovery.
Enter God. Enter Mercy. James Keenan, SJ, defines mercy as the “willingness to enter into the chaos of others.” I found myself in the chaos of soggy homes, inadequate insurance coverage, limited resources, frightened and overwhelmed leaders, a growing desire for security and stability, and a hunger for what “used to be.”
I had no intention to stay in New Orleans much less begin a Christian Community. But things just seemed to make sense. People from all over the world were coming to help...
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Associate Professor of Religion, Claremont School of Theology
November 09, 2011
This is the first of a series of excerpts from the Nurturing the Next
Generation of Scholars workshops at the 2009 Annual Meetings of the
American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature
(SBL).
In partnership with the AAR, SBL and its regional organizational affiliates, FTE hosts recruitment workshops and conferences that invite promising students of color to consider the pursuit of the Ph.D. or Th.D. in religious, biblical, and theological studies.
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Volunteers Exploring Vocation Coordinator
October 25, 2011
I attended the funeral of Marion Zwicker. She was 80 years old. She
and her husband, Otte, and their 55-year-old son, Kurt are special
people. At one time, they were my parishioners and model church members
in terms of attitude, service, and support. You could also say they were
change agents, people who made things happen.
With four others, they started up an educational center for
developmentally disabled adults. Years later, the founded a jobs center
for the same population. They did what needed to be done to make sure
their son, Kurt, had the service he needed to have a full life as a
disabled adult.
Kurt was perhaps the most valuable member of our parish...
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FTE Undergraduate Fellow ('09) and FTE Congregational Fellow ('11)
Candler School of Theology
October 21, 2011
Fifty years ago, someone would have guessed it was just a fancy
sandwich: LGBTQ. Now, it has become a global game of tug-of-war with
communion bread, inevitably creating a “winner” and “loser” dichotomy.
Churches around the world—and certainly across America—are spinning
themselves nauseous over what to do with lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) people, and I think it is
time we reevaluate things mid-spin.
The conversation about LGBTQ people and the church needs to happen in a
graceful space that is outside of the loom of legislative consequence.
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Ministry Fellow ('00) & TiM Resident ('02 & '04)
Associate Pastor
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Wheaton, IL
October 18, 2011
As a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) in Wheaton, Illinois, a town often
regarded as the intellectual capitol of American evangelicalism, the
intricacies of
mainline-evangelical relationships are an ever-confounding
aspect of daily life.
So it was with great interest and a longing for clarity that I hopped on the train into Chicago a few weeks back to attend "Reasons for Hope: A
Dialogue on the Christian Future" featuring Barbara Wheeler and Richard J. Mouw. Jointly sponsored by The Christian Century and Christianity Today, the event brought together two respected leaders in theological education, each of whom I knew to be an articulate
representative of her or his respective liberal or conservative Protestant camp. I was also aware...
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