If you haven’t found it yet, head on over to a new blog here on the Progressive Christian Channel, written by Jack Levison. I first met Jack three years ago when he and his wife Priscilla hosted me along with a dozen other teacher-scholars for a summer seminar on gender and Christianity in Seattle. Not only did they make that fantastic month happen, they did the hard work to wrangle a great edited volume, Sex, Gender & Christianity, out of... Read more
Fellow Patheos writer Tony Jones recently issued an “Invitation to Christian Feminists” to submit posts for his widely read blog. That it comes on the heels of his “I’m Tired of Being Called a Racist” post in response to this piece by Dr. Christena Cleveland over at her blog certainly affects the response I’m having. (As does the fact that I’ve known Christena since we spent a month at a Gender & Christianity seminar in Seattle three years ago.) I’ll... Read more
The next time someone asks me what I’m doing this summer (because, you know, professors have that “summer off” thing … ahem) I’m going to start by showing them this picture. I’ve read some of every one of these books in the past week alone. Some are for fun (The Marriage Plot, Shadow of Night, Wild), some are for professional work on the Council of Independent Colleges NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project (Callings, Living Lives that Matter, Awakening Vocation), some are... Read more
This Sunday, Christians celebrate Pentecost. As a liturgical moment, it marks the arrival of the Spirit and enlivening of the community of gathered Jesus-as-Christ-believers, described in Acts 2. As a vocabulary word in my introduction to Christianity course, it means “fiftieth” day since Passover. This is important because that gathered community, still perhaps reeling from the execution of Jesus not two months prior, was in fact marking the Festival of Weeks, in accordance with their Jewish tradition: “The period from... Read more
The following is a set of remarks I delivered yesterday, graduation day, as part of a campus Celebration of Justice and Opportunity at Illinois College. The Celebration was organized by students as an alternate to the College’s official baccalaureate. Normally, on a Sunday morning, I am doing one of two things: going to church, or more frequently eating breakfast in bed while watching Sunday morning political talk shows. Religion and politics is just what I do … even on the... Read more
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations describes the Mama’s Day movement and it’s connection to Mother’s Day: Mother’s Day was originally founded as an antiwar rallying cry by Unitarian Julia Ward Howe. This history reminds us that Mother’s Day is more than a day for flowers and pancakes. It’s a time to highlight the aspects of motherhood that are not usually visible in the greeting card aisles. It’s a call to honor the resiliency of all those who mother, especially... Read more
Rev. Jann Aldredge-Clanton has shared a new resource for those interested in more inclusive and justice oriented sacred music, this one with new words set to another familiar Christian hymn (“Lord of all hopefulness / Lord of all joy”) written by a woman, Jan Struther, who incidentally is most well-known for creating the character Mrs. Miniver. About her new lyrics, Aldredge-Clanton writes: Many years ago I preached a sermon with this introduction: “What ever happened to Wisdom? In all my... Read more
Because saying it matters almost as much as being it, cheers to the women and men claiming their religion alongside their feminist commitments over at “I’m A Mormon Feminist.” Here are a few of the great images you’ll find there: What is a Mormon feminist? Here’s one answer: “Simply put, feminists want equality for everyone, women and men. Feminists advocate for everyone to have the same opportunities in life – politically, economically, and socially. … Mormon feminism shares the... Read more
The top three most viewed posts in April 2013 here at feminismxianity were: Red Logo Resistance: Homonationalism and the HRC What’s Really Being Ignored in the Gosnell Case? Why Guys Throw Bombs It was a complex (difficult? tragic?) month for news related to religion, politics, and gender, and I think you see that these posts and the significant interest in them reflects that. If you happen to miss any of them, I hope you’ll click through and let me know... Read more
“If you could have me read one article, what would it be? … Basically, what do you know that I should know?” One article! One article? Well, that’s the first challenge. Ask any college professor for one reading recommendation, and you’re likely to get more than you bargained for. However, I know that the work of being a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America leaves precious little time for theological reflection and academic reading. I appreciated your honesty... Read more
Caryn Riswold
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