Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
I still remember an insight from Stanley Hauerwas’s commencement speech at Eastern Mennonite Seminary over a decade ago. He said something to the effect that learning how to be a Christian is not just like learning to speak a new language. It is speaking a new language. Christianity is its […]
Think about a time when you were first in love. That dreamy feeling, like the whole world was singing to you, that you had found the secret of life, the universe, and everything, and the most wonderful person in existence was crazy about YOU! Thinking about how lovely it was […]
This sermon was originally delivered to Moorseville Friends Church on First Day, Sixth Month 13th, 2021. “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,” said the angel of the annunciation. Quaker theologian Robert Barclay (1648-1690) argued that “if this coming of Christ had […]
Like many Mennonites, Hutterites, and Amish my grandparents kept a copy of the Martyrs Mirror on their bookshelf. It’s a massive book, over fifteen hundred pages long, so it stood out among the other books, It was first published in 1660. Now 360 years later, it is still available in […]
Beatitude: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is the beatitude that I am most nervous to speak about. I’m not nervous because it is a topic that involves actual physical harm. I’m nervous because of all the beatitudes, this […]
When I was 22, I attended a women’s cabaret in Minneapolis, where I was then living. One of the performers mentioned Camp Sister Spirit, a feminist retreat center in rural Mississippi that was in need of help – not just funds, but volunteers to help in the work of renovating […]
Chibuzo Petty How do you understand the difference between writing and writing as ministry? Nick Patler I am not sure I can explain the difference. For me, particularly as a historian whose interest is largely in African American history, writing is about telling stories, giving voice to persons and narratives […]
For much of the Christian Church, today is Pentecost Sunday. It commemorates the day when the Holy Spirit, previously breathed into the eleven disciples by the risen Christ1, fell upon ten dozen assembled believers2. Peter, standing among them, explained to astonished bystanders that this was the “outpouring of God’s spirit […]
In normal times, Jonah comes across as being utterly ridiculous. He is grumpy. He doesn’t want to do what God wants him to do. He runs away. He almost causes a shipwreck. He complains. He gets angry. When Jonah finally relents and does what God wants him to do, he […]
Beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. In my office, I have a framed image of military fighter jets. Overlaid on the image is a quote by Menno Simons that says, “Christ is our fortress; patience our weapon of defense; the word of God […]