Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category
Preaching at Festival of Homiletics – Atlanta, GA
Sermon – “Afflicted in every way, but not crushed”
Biblical Text - II Corinthians 4
May the peace of Christ be with you all. What a honor to be here this morning. And I thank you deeply for coming to Buckhead theater. Do you know Tom Long is preaching at the Methodist church? Just checking. I am very honored you are here.
When I was ordained the pastor who preached at my ordination service said wonderful things. But one not so wonderful thing was: “Watch your back! Because you will be hurt and people will hit you and you will need to be wise.” I was just 24 years old and because I had grew up in a church, so I kind of knew what he was talking about. But I did not think I would hear that in my ordination. (PAUSE) So much has gone by from that day and now, almost 20 years into my ministry, I can understand better the meaning of “watch your back!”
We mourn the death of a wonderful person, thinker and leader: Walter Wink
Walter Wink, Presente!
RIchard Deats
Walter Wink, 76, one of the most creative and influential scholars of our day, died peacefully at his home in Sandisfield in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts on May 10, 2012. His health had been declining since he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
Wink was born in Dallas, Texas. He was a graduate of Southern Methodist University, after which he received Master of Divinity and Doctor of Theology degrees at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was assigned as pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Hitchcock, Texas for five years. Then, for nine years, he served at Union Seminary as professor of New Testament, followed by becoming professor of biblical interpretation (1976-2005) at Auburn Theological Seminary, also in New York City. Outspoken against the Vietnam war, from 1967 to 1976 he served on the national steering committee of Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam.
Wink became a prolific author of prize-winning and widely studied books. He wrote 16 books and hundreds of articles in the fields of biblical interpretation, war and peace, and nonviolence.
We mourn the death of a wonderful person, thinker and leader: Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz
Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Alumna, passed away yesterday, Sunday, May 13 after a battle with cancer.
Ada María Isasi-Díaz was Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics and Theology at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She founded the Hispanic Institute of Theology there in 1992.
Born and raised in Havana, Cuba, Isasi-Díaz came to the United States as a political refugee in 1960 and entered the order of St. Ursula. She held a B.A. in European History from the College of New Rochelle, and an M.A. in Medieval History from the State University of New York at Brockport. For some years she was a missionary in Lima, Peru, and a high-school teacher there and in the U.S.
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An open letter to pastors (A non-mom speaks about Mother’s Day)- A Liturgical Suggestion
Dear Pastor,
Tone can be tricky in writing. Picture me popping my head in your office door, smiling and asking if we could talk for five minutes. I’m sipping on my diet coke as I sit down.
You know that I’m not one to shy away from speaking my mind, part of the reason you love me (mostly!), so I’m guessing that internally you brace yourself wondering what might be next.
I set my can down and this is what I’d say.
A few years ago I sat across from a woman who told me she doesn’t go to church on Mother’s Day because it is too hurtful. I’m not a mother, but I had never seen the day as hurtful. She had been married, had numerous miscarriages, divorced and was beyond child bearing years. It was like salt in mostly healed wounds to go to church on that day. This made me sad, but I understood.
Fast forward several years to Mother’s Day. A pastor asked all mothers to stand. On my immediate right, my mother stood and on my immediate left, a dear friend stood. I, a woman in her late 30s, sat. I don’t know how others saw me, but I felt dehumanized, gutted as a woman. Real women stood, empty shells sat. I do not normally feel this way. I do not like feeling this way. I want no woman to ever feel this way in church again.
Last year a friend from the States happened to visit on Mother’s Day and again the pastor (a different one) asked all mothers to stand. As a mother, she stood and I whispered to her, “I can’t take it, I’m standing.” She knows I’m not a mother yet she understood my standing / lie.
A Litany in Solidarity with Women, by Keatan King
Holy One, we come before you this day, all of us, as creatures of God and as individuals located within the experience of the feminine. We bring our lives, stories, families, relationships, and our very existence to this place, all of which is shaped and touched by women.
We praise you, Creator, for the gift of women, not to the exclusion of other sex and gender identities, but as invaluable members of humanity designed to be in right relationship with all people. Sovereign One, we thank you for women’s experiences with you in and through:
the divine image within women; the divine claim upon women in baptism; the divine welcome received by women from your table; the divine commissioning which invites the lives and gifts of women for ministry; and the divine covenant which binds women with all people in the one promise to bless and redeem humankind.
We give thanks for the mothers of our faith heritage and for all Biblical women who tell the story of God’s everlasting love and righteousness. We remember mothers and poets like Eve, Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Mary-
Women who laugh at mysteries of life, pray without ceasing, sing songs of praise, ponder your words, and whose womb housed the Word.
