Our Blog
The Hidden History of Methodist Schism
As United Methodists face General Conference 2020 and the potential of forming new church bodies, it feels as though the denomination is at a significant crossroad. As if we are doing something we have never done before. If only that were true. The truth is,...
A Christian Alternative to Polarization
For three days in an Airbnb rental in a cozy Atlanta neighborhood, my team and I took a spiritual retreat. Nine of us worshiped together, laughed and played together, ate meals together, envisioned the coming year together, and worked on some detailed processes...
Two Popes, Three Opinions
There’s a classic Jewish aphorism: “two Jews, three opinions.” It sounds like the punch line to a joke, but it’s merely an observation about Jewish willingness to see all sides of an argument and to debate them with aplomb. Rabbi Wolpe references Yeats: “Out of the...
Three Ways to Be Light in the Darkness
It’s easy to get depressed these days. Between meanspirited win/lose politics, the dismissal of fact-based debate, public shootings, brutal treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, extreme weather events, and destabilized foreign relations, the darkness around us...
Living Epiphany
The Season of Epiphany is framed by two key events in the life of Christ: his baptism and his transfiguration. In between these two major experiences, this liturgical season covers Jesus’ entire life and ministry. It’s a season of deepening in spiritual growth....
Machetes, Guns and the Hidden Message of Epiphany
When a machete-bearing assailant broke into a private Hasidic home to “get” the Jews who were celebrating Chanukah there, his move was both horrific and ironic. That the safety and merriment of a home could be violated by such hate is unthinkable. That it happened at...