As many congregations return to gathering in new or partial ways after a period of virtual worship, there are both logistical challenges and shepherding…
Tag: Hospitality
Wesleyan Accent ~ Soul Posture for the Socially Distanced
“The thwarting of strategy is an invitation for God to do a deeper work of character.”
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Testimony, Conversion, and the Search for Genuine Faith
The question of whether testimony of following Jesus Christ is genuine isn’t a new question birthed solely from a time on the planet when mass communications highlight celebrity lifestyles. The early church dealt with this question, and leaders often counseled prudence, care, pastoral sensitivity, and community accountability.
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Silencing the Shame Machine: Our Call to Craft Peace
Recently, I heard a church leader describe the instinct to "drop Facebook napalm" in an online debate. What a great image. Our cultural currency…
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Resolutions: The Problem of Shibboleth in 2018
This is what happens when we employ shibboleths. We don’t engage in critical thinking, we don’t assume the value of the other person, and we don’t speak with kindness to or about those outside the boundaries of our groups.
Tara Beth Leach ~ Inclusion Matters
This weekend we are pleased to share a sermon from Rev. Tara Beth Leach, Senior Pastor, and Pastor Julie Keith, Pastor of Special Needs at First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena, California.
Wesleyan Accent ~ How Your Local Church Can Engage Immigrants: An Interview with Rev. Zach Szmara
The reality is that we’re providing immigration legal services – which means we’re using the immigration law as it is currently written to help people navigate through the process if there is a pathway for them.
Cole Bodkin ~ “Go Home” Ranch
I need to “move into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message) like Jesus and grow roots. I must become more specific and contextualized in my discipleship. All of this, of course, is grounded in the interdynamic relationship between humanity and land, which is quintessential to neighboring – to discipleship.
Elizabeth Moyer ~ Anxiety in Worship
Someone living with an anxiety disorder (or any medical condition) that makes being in loud, dark areas or separated from family unendurable does not feel welcomed. This is not a commentary on the theology or religiosity of the “turn up the volume and dim the lights, no children allowed” movement. The concern here is how the Body of Christ meets those who would dare join in for worship.
Celtic Clues to Feeding Body and Soul
The plea and blessing she sought from God wasn’t just hers alone. Guests and visitors who arrived to a home in which the daily chores were being tended greeted their hosts with the Gaelic blessing Bail o Dhia which translates to, ‘God’s blessing on the work!’ The declaration of such a blessing expressed the implicit knowledge that the monotonous backbreaking work was not simply the laborer’s alone but a joint effort blessed by God upon which all of society depended.