Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
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 […]
“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 […]
I share two poems centering my Palestinian identity and experience. As a Palestinian Christian, I aspire to walk in Jesus’ footsteps in challenging oppression, empire, and occupation. I provide an introduction to Palestine for readers to better understand the context of the poems. I first provide a brief introduction to […]
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 […]
Recently, several of us had an extended conversation after church, regarding church theology. Part of the discussion centered on comparing the Church of the Brethren and Orthodoxy on church hierarchy and power relationships. The comparison was not aimed at defending one or the other or proving one was better but […]
As I sat and began to think about what to write for this second article with the goal of some kind of practical equipping, I thought back on some of the most important lessons that I’d learned – some of the most memorable and influential aspects of my spiritual life. […]
The Liberty Bell numbers among our best-known national icons. There is a biblical quote inscribed on the bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto the inhabitants thereof. Lev. XXV v. X.” Curiously, those words were cast into the bell about a generation before the Declaration of Independence, at a time […]
The following essay is part one of a series. Please look out for part two on February 17. I have observed while listening to a number of white members of the Church of the Brethren in sermons, articles, and conversations, a tendency for some to articulate a vision of evangelism […]
Wrestling Patience I am being taught patience. When my first few kidney stones came around, I struggled to muster the strength to silence the pain in my body. In all of my eight years of life, I had never known the world as such a painful place. I had never […]
In the beginning as God created, a wind –the spirit of God swept— hovered—over the face of the deep. The first people—Eve and Adam– “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze…” A swoosh of grass? Crunch of leaves? Abraham […]