[why i left, why i stayed: book]

In Why I Left, Why I Stayed, Tony, a renowned Christian teacher and apologist, and Bart, a humanist chaplain at the University of Southern California, seek to provide a safe space for anyone wrestling with their own—or a loved one’s—decision to stay in or leave the church, providing compelling arguments in both directions and modeling for everyone how to strongly but lovingly disagree about the things that matter most.

For anyone who has questions about the viability and truth of the Christian life or wonders what life looks like after Christianity, this book promises to be challenging, inspiring, and highly informative. Read a sneak peek excerpt here.

(Source: Red Letter Christians email)

I haven't read this book, but it looks like a great example of how people with very different views can get along and, in fact, like and love each other as people.


Click here to watch on YouTube.

disco spirit

Oh look! Jesus' prayer has come true at St. Mark's in the Bowery (NYC):

image source

Try suggesting this to your church council...

[happy easter!]

Black Jesus from Coptic Church in Egypt. Happy Easter. pic.twitter.com/HD9p9hN2zM

— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) April 16, 2017

[heathens and the church]

Really love the song Heathens by twenty one pilots, and then found that Richard Beck, one of my favourite bloggers and authors, has just written about them in his blog. Here's a snippet of what he says:

"Heathens" makes many of the points I try to make in Unclean. The speaker and audience of "Heathens" is unclear, but I'd like to read the song as Jesus speaking to the church, as TØP preaching to their fellow Christians. Read this way "Heathens" is both a prophetic rebuke to the church as well as an invitation into Jesus' lifestyle of radical hospitality.

Read the entire post:
Lovin' On the Freakshow Sitting Next to You: The Church According to Twenty One Pilots


If you haven't heard the song, you can hear it in this video. Note that as the song was used for a movie soundtrack, the images in this video are not related to what Richard Beck is speaking about!


Watch on YouTube.

Lyrics:

All my friends are heathens. Take it slow
Wait for them to ask you who you know
Please don't make any sudden moves
You don't know the half of the abuse

All my friends are heathens. Take it slow
Wait for them to ask you who you know
Please don't make any sudden moves
You don't know the half of the abuse

[evergreen presbyterian declares itself]

I came across this image in an article by Mary Button, Mission Developer at Evergreen Presbyterian Church, in Memphis. The article itself is worth reading, as it talks about how she and the church respond in open ways to what is happening around them.
Give it a read: Art as Resistance in Uncertain Times.

Love the way the church windows, being located in a store front, are right at the street level. No fences and manicured lawns between passersby and this building. There are the windows, and on them this church has declared what they are about.

[redemptive, full of hope and possibility]

in the chapel at holy trinity

In the chapel at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Edmonton.

Artist?

[fishing tips, from rev. dr. john pentland]

"Fishing Tips is an open invitation to be curious. Using an ancient story as inspiration, John Pentland reflects on how Hillhurst United said "Yes" to throwing the nets on the other side of convention. The result was innovative, invigorating and transformative."

In the 1980s, Hillhurst United opposed the ordination of gay and lesbian people. Today, they are an affirming congregation. This book is by the minister who played a key role in this transformation.

Of particular interest to the topic of uncertain spaces and declared spaces is Fishing Tip Eight: Say Who You Are. This chapter has two parts: Naming Ourselves, and How a Name Leads to Action & Grows Your Church

For more on the book, click here: http://www.hillhurstunited.com/fishing-tips

Check out an article that discusses if a church can be biblical, evangelical and progressive.

[PIE: public, intentional, explicit]

As I continue to think about uncertain spaces and declared spaces, I came across this important concept from the Affirm United website. It presents three key aspects of being a declared space in a crisp, clear way:

Most congregations do their best to be welcoming, but being affirming goes deeper and is public, intentional, and explicit, in their commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Think “PIE”: Public, Intentional, and Explicit.

Public: An Affirming Ministry uses symbols and signs which are echoed outside and inside the church building, in worship, and in all other facets of church life. The broader community should also know what it stands for; a witness to the wider community that God’s love extends to everyone equally and without reserve. This is still a radical message!

Intentional: An Affirming Ministry is deliberate in their process of study, education and dialogue with members of their faith community (both during the Affirming process and as a piece of their ongoing work), to ensure that the history of oppression and discrimination by the Church is both understood and acknowledged, and that continued growth, education, and celebration are part of its ministry.

Explicit: Affirming Ministries should explicitly indicate in their Mission and Vision statement – and everywhere else! – that the LGBTQ+ community is a part of and embraced in all facets of church life. And as part of the Affirming process, their faith community will explore and explain how to live out that commitment.

Source

Read more about this at
http://affirmunited.ause.ca/frequently-asked-questions-about-affirm-united-saffirmer-ensemble/

[can a church be biblical, evangelical and progressive?]

Here's an article about a Calgary church that believes in Jesus and loves and embraces people -- in reality, not just abstractly.

Can a church be both open and inclusive on social questions and at the same time evangelical in outreach and committed to scripture and doctrine? Wouldn’t you want to be part of a church like that?

It is not hard to find theologically open churches that aren’t engaged with scripture and doctrine. And it is easy to find churches committed to scripture and doctrine that make the lines of belonging impossibly narrow. Could a church offer the best of both worlds?

John Pentland, minister at Hillhurst United Church in Calgary, Alberta, thinks so, and his church seems poised to reach a generation of Canadians who are skeptical of religion in general and Christianity in particular. He admits that this is surprising—those looking for innovative congregations and dramatic church growth are not likely to look at the United Church of Canada.

"Biblical, evangelical—and progressive" by Jason Byassee

Oct 28, 2016

Source

Click here to read the rest of the article.

p.s. this post is tagged with "uncertain spaces" because Hillhurst is the opposite of an uncertain space — it is a great example of a declared space.

why I no longer believe in lgbtq+ friendly churches

I used to be in favour of lgbtq+ friendly churches.

My denomination, according to head office, has at least four lgbtq-friendly churches in this area¹. Generally, these churches are welcoming of people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, allow involvement in ministry at all levels and have pastors who are theologically progressive.

Despite being lgbtq-friendly, these churches are uncertain spaces to many people, in that they have not declared if and how they value and embrace diverse peoples. To be specific in this context, these churches do not say anything about being lgbtq+ friendly, their website gives no indication of their welcome and there are no rainbows on the sign out front. The effect is that people in the neighbourhood and, in fact, even people inside the church itself, might have no idea.

And so initially I had thought that they needed encouragement to move toward becoming churches that openly declare that all people are welcome and valued. This is particularly important so that people who are at the edges and who belong to minority groups would know which churches will walk with them on their spiritual journey.

That's what I used to think. But now, I no longer believe in lgbtq+ friendly churches.

It’s not because they are hesitant to proclaim that the good news they believe truly includes everyone. It’s because just as lgbtq+ friendliness is absent from the signs and the website, so are all things lgbtq+ absent from the culture and structure of the church.

[god and us]

let them eat cake...

... homemade Italian sour cherry and chocolate cake

[mary]

 "Courage 3.0" by Tim Okamura. Found via a tweet.

For more of Okamura's work:
https://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/en_uk/blog/tim-okamura-women-of-color-portraits

[what the largest survey of transgender people says about our churches]

Sojourners has posted an article about the findings from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey of 28,000 transgender people, in an article titled "7 Things the Largest-Ever Survey of Transgender People Tells Us About Our Churches."

The focus of their article, as the title suggests, is on the church and faith experiences. Interesting reading ...

Here's the first three things:

1. Most trans people have experienced life in a community of faith.
2. Trans people are afraid of religious rejection.
3. Trans people have a pretty good reason to be afraid.

Read the article here:
https://sojo.net/articles/7-things-largest-ever-survey-transgender-people-tells-us-about-our-churches

If you are interested in the overall survey report, you can get it here:
http://www.ustranssurvey.org/