On July 31st, the federal moratorium on evictions ended. The following two weeks, landlords across the country got busy evicting tenants who, for many reasons, most of them pandemic-related, had been unable to keep up with their rent. I happen to live in Arkansas, a state with the distinction of having the worst protections for renters of anywhere in the nation. Not only does our state allow landlords to evict with just three days notice: we also provide free prosecutor... Read more

Mea Culpa First of all, I need to apologize. I’ve been slow. Even though we have been social distancing since March, I have nevertheless continued to assume corporate worship for the whole congregation was still a thing we’d get back to. And honestly because our worship normally happens in the sanctuary, I’ve still been imagining models of corporate worship broadcast from the church building. I pride myself on being an idea person. I should have been able to imagine alternatives... Read more

“The promise of grace is not to be squandered; it needs to be protected from the godless. There are those who are not worthy of the sanctuary. The proclamation of grace has its limits. Grace may not be proclaimed to anyone who does not recognize or distinguish or desire it. Not only does that pollute the sanctuary itself, not only must those who sin still be guilty against the Most Holy, but in addition, the misuse of the Holy must... Read more

Well, this has all gone on much longer than anyone thought when it got started. We all adjusted. Live-stream worship. Communion at home. Bible study via Zoom. And frankly, more rest and less events, which has allowed space for reflection (and/or more conversations about COVID-19). In the meantime, I’m seeing inspiring creativity on the margins of the quarantine, ways all y’all are discovering how to be the body of Christ in spite of (possibly even because of) the pandemic, and... Read more

Bonhoeffer met an early death 70 years ago today in a Nazi concentration camp. Already influential in his country and on the global ecumenical scene during his lifetime, Bonhoeffer’s status as a theologian and “martyr” of the church has only increased over the ensuing decades. Of particular interest to theologians and ethicists was Bonhoeffer’s ability to maintain a faithful, confessional stance while so many other religious leaders in Germany were co-opted by the Nazi regime. What was it about Bonhoeffer... Read more

It might be hyperbole to say that Reggie Williams’ book on Bonhoeffer’s black Jesus changes everything… and yet it does. Most books on Bonhoeffer approach everything through the hermeneutics of Bonhoeffer himself. The world is reframed in the light of Bonhoeffer’s theology and personality. Reggie Williams also loves Bonhoeffer, but he takes a different approach. Instead of framing everything through a constant Bonhoeffer lens, with the reader experiencing Harlem, or theology, or what have you, through Bonhoeffer’s eyes, Williams imitates... Read more

Bonhoeffer’s Reception of Luther.  Michael P. DeJonge. Oxford University Press, 2017. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran. Say it again. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran. Although his long-standing association with his contemporary Karl Barth has sometimes led us to believe Bonhoeffer was more Barthian than Lutheran, and although evangelicals (that bastard Eric Metaxas chief among them) like to claim him for their cause, the truth is simple: Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran. DeJonge opens his book with simple statistics. Bonhoeffer quotes Martin Luther more... Read more