Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
I love watching cooking competitions. I started watching them with my grandmother Diana and have continued the tradition with my daughter Diana Grace. One of the genre’s most iconic shows is Hell’s Kitchen. On the show, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey mentors teams of chefs through a series of challenges until […]
For eight months in 2021 and early 2022, I participated in a Be the Bridge (to racial unity) discussion group organized by my congregation’s Peace and Social Justice Commission. Be the Bridge is grounded in the belief that racial reconciliation is a reflection of the Bible’s call to all Christians […]
The first portion of this article examined our tendency to “spiritualize” our theological language. This can happen when taking words that were first given dynamic metaphorical use for articulating something of our experience with God, and calcifying their meaning such that the only interpretation considered is one that stays entirely […]
In an introductory theology course at Eastern University, our professor quite deliberately assigned us readings from a wide variety of Christian traditions. Among these, one story makes a text we didn’t read memorable: Professor Boyer read aloud an email exchange wherein he had asked colleagues at Eastern and other friends […]
A Global Church Church of the Brethren history and tradition are transnational in their essence. Since the Radical Reformation and the formation of the church in Germany, which then expanded to the United States, and later to other countries throughout the world, the Brethren have always had a cross-border and […]
“Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding non-violent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.” “Belief that the gospel includes a commitment […]
A lone tree stands in the middle of a field. Can you picture it? Old, crooked, large branches to offer shade. Green in summer, empty in winter. Its sole purpose is to offer some relief from the sun. Maybe it has seen picnics come and go, lazy cows, or rambunctious […]
When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are […]
Metaphors and figures of speech are not just the tools of poets, but the fabric of our everyday life. In the previous sentence alone I employed two different metaphors to talk about metaphors (i.e. tools and fabric). We use linguistic images all the time, often without realizing it, and we […]
…I believe, biography, any and every biography, is inherently theological, in the sense that it contains already…the news of the gospel…We are each one of us parables. ~William Stringfellow A long, long time ago, in what feels like a galaxy far away from my here and now, two friends and […]