Religious trauma is becoming quite a buzzword. Faith communities (like Harbor, the online community I help lead) have formed to help people heal from it. The church can’t afford to become irritated, blasé or condescending about church trauma. As the phrase indicates, this phenomenon is the result of harms perpetrated in and by the church. We need to take religious trauma very, very seriously.
What Good Is a Vision without a Path? You can’t tell a congregation where to go if you don’t tell then how to get there by Graham Standish In the King James Version of the Bible, there’s a lovely phrase that’s been quoted often by those teaching church leadership: “Where there is no vision, the… Read more »
I do? Thinking faithfully about marriage, sex, singleness, and Christian discipleship By Jeffrey A Schooley As I begin a new series of columns dedicated to Christian sex ethics, I am faced with what to call it. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the column name game is strong on this One Church, Many Voices… Read more »
The creators behind the Presbyterians Today blog, One Church Many Voices Antonio “Tony” Aja WRITING IN THE MARGINSThinking with a not-so-colonized mind Antonio (Tony) Aja is a teaching elder member of the Presbytery of Santa Fe in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and currently serves as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New… Read more »
This piece is part of an ongoing series focused on the themes of “connection” and “community.” Follow the blog or check our Facebook page to see the other posts in the series as they’re published. A month ago, in a Goodwill I found a used no-frills record player. Elina, my daughter, grabbed it before someone else stole it from… Read more »
For too long, we have believed that the divine is outside us. This belief has strained our longing disastrously. This makes us lonely, since it is human longing that makes us holy. The most beautiful thing about us is our longing; this longing is spiritual and has great depth and wisdom. If you focus your… Read more »
Worship tells a story that can cause discomfort In contemplating pastoral identity in a secular age, I found myself thinking about liturgy—the public ritual act of worship, one of the main parts of my role as a congregational pastor. What does liturgy mean in this frame—where so few people feel God’s presence in their lives?… Read more »
(Or, why are our teens so depressed these days?) Recently, I’ve seen a ton of writing about the mental health crisis among teenagers. I’m spotting the articles myself “in the wild,” but people are also sending them to me directly… I guess teen mental health is my beat now? Happy to offer some thoughts,… Read more »
What Marie Kondo Got Right and Isaiah Didn’t by Samuel Son “Set you house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” — Isaiah to King Hezekiah (2 Kings) “Life truly begins after you have put your house in order.” — Mari Kondo The prophet Isaiah came to bedridden Hezekiah to say, “God… Read more »
Between the dawns Living the waking moments by Ken Rummer ROY G BIV — that’s the memory hook for the top to bottom colors of the rainbow. I’m seeing them upside down in the early sky, all except for the R and the V. So far, neither red nor violet are in view. My youngest… Read more »
