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One Church, Many Voices

PresbyHonest: Relevant truth telling with a queer twist

By Layton E. Williams A Pastor By Any Other Name… Moving beyond the parish bias to celebrate ministry in all its forms About a month ago, I began telling people that when my current parish ministry position ends in August, I’m planning to pursue work in faith-based advocacy and policy change in Washington, D.C. I’m always… Read more »

Living In Between: Sanctifying the ordinary

by Abby King-Kaiser Finding the holy in the academic calendar When I was in seminary, I loved how the liturgical calendar drew me into marking time as sacred, giving me holy rhythms to the ordinary, challenging me to seek God with intention in the rather ordinary passing of time. I now live on a whole different… Read more »

justleros: more than nonsense, más que disparates

 by Magdalena I. García Come, Spirit of Truth A resource for Sunday’s liturgy based on John 16:12–15 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but… Read more »

justleros = more than just nonsense or disparates

Lying there A resource for Sunday’s liturgy based on John 5:1–9 by Magdalena I. García Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha[i], which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus… Read more »

TLC: Think Like a Christian

by Jeffrey A. Schooley Size Matters But not for the reasons you think I might be a pastor of a small church. I say “might be,” because I honestly have no idea what constitutes a small, mid-sized, and mega church. I’ve heard it said that a mega-church is any church with 1,000 or more members…. Read more »

Swell

Church growth is not about the easy externals of church life. It is about communicating and embodying the good news of Jesus Christ, sharing it with your community in ways that they will hear it, daily laboring to follow in Christ’s steps as his disciples. It is about remembering that we are promised the grace that comes from a cross, not a smoothie machine. 

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We’ve been here before

A Holy Week reflection for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday We’ve been here beforeA Holy Week reflection for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday by Patrick David Heery, editor The following reflection was delivered at the Holy Week worship service at the Presbyterian Center, the national office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a place undergoing significant… Read more »

Whispering with the Wind

Sharing a witness of Word and thought, as led by the Spirit. Let anyone who has ears . . . A Black history reading of 1 Corinthians 10:1–13A retelling of the Black experience in the United States by Derrick McQueen Last February, during Black History Month, I read this 1 Corinthians text and felt as… Read more »