Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… –Rev 5:9 Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable […]
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 […]
How many of you have been on an airplane since 9/11? A lot of things have changed in airports since then. Not just going through metal detectors, but pat-downs, body scans, scans of our luggage and purses… whole arenas for security procedures have been set up in every airport, and […]
How many of us still believe in “good guys and bad guys”? Are there such things? We live in a world where political commentators have been describing the difference between parties in starker terms than a lot of recent science fiction movies or even some video games have drawn the […]
This is the first Sunday of Lent 2021, but as Diana Butler Bass has named, in some ways, the entire last year has felt like a season of Lent. Lent is that liturgical season of forty days (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter, in which Christians have for centuries taken […]
The third Sunday in Advent is Gaudete Sunday, or Rejoicing Sunday, and the lectionary scriptures all proclaim the joy of God’s work in the world. And yet, beloved church, I have to tell you, I was having a hard time accessing some joy to preach about. It’s been a very […]
This past week, I was party to a conversation with a relative that turned to the Black Lives Matter protests. This relative, an older person, commented, “I don’t understand where all this is coming from.” Brothers and sisters, let me tell you, I was flabbergasted. For so many reasons. Having […]
Having spent years ministering with Quakers and Brethren, it should come as no surprise that I have often referred to myself as a pacifist. There was even a season when I would have preferred the term non-resistor. I used to pride myself on my peace-loving zeal. I ate up respectability […]
A Reaction to the Article: “Desegregating the Body of Christ: West Charleston Church of the Brethren and the Urgency of Multicultural Ministry” by Caleb Kragt in the Fall/Winter 2018-2019 Issue As I read this article, I have a sense of hope for the ministry, of which I became a part […]