2014-09-05T13:37:32-05:00

I am not a writer. There, I’ve said it and it feels good to get the truth out there. I took a course in Holistic Spirituality a few years back at the age of 42 and the nun handed out the requirements which included three papers. I gently informed her that I was “auditing” the course and saw no need to write papers. I will never forget her gentle chuckle as she informed me that I most certainly WOULD be... Read more

2014-09-04T15:17:11-05:00

I’m excited – really excited. Stripping away the scant possibility of any cool detachment on my part, I am honored and energized about being the ‘4th day of the month’ convener of this emergence Christianity, emerging voices conversation. The topic of emergence Christianity has now entered its third decade for me. I can vividly remember driving to Charlotte, NC in 1993 in our new Saturn, steering with my knees while I penciled down lyrics from a Soul Asylum song on... Read more

2014-09-03T18:41:11-05:00

As an atheist who works with religious persons, I am honored to be a part of these “Emerging Voices.” By way of introduction, I first met Holly Roach and Steve Knight at a conference they coordinated at Mission Gathering Church in San Diego. Ryan Bell, Adele Sakler, and myself were invited to lead a panel on Skeptimergent—a group of skeptics and non-believers interested in discussing the role that liberal and Emergent forms of Christianity took in their lives. I first... Read more

2014-09-03T09:23:19-05:00

Leroy Barber has dedicated more than 25 years to eradicating poverty, confronting homelessness, restoring local neighborhoods, healing racism, and living what Dr. King called “the beloved community.” Leroy starts projects that shape society; in 1989, burdened by the plight of Philadelphia’s homeless, he and his wife Donna founded Restoration Ministries, to serve homeless families and children living on the streets. In 1997, he joined FCS Urban Ministries, working with Atlanta Youth Project to serve as the founding Executive Director of... Read more

2014-09-02T19:52:00-05:00

As Holly and I articulated in our post from yesterday, I am excited and eager for this adventure into blog reinvention to begin. I have been both amazed and then, at the same time, not overly surprised to find a community of ecumenical, interfaith, and non-faith-oriented writers being so open to this collaboration. I am eager to hear from the well-over-31 writers as we move into this inaugural month of posting. This rebirth, of sorts, has me waxing nostalgic about... Read more

2014-09-01T14:34:59-05:00

Welcome to the next incarnation and rebirth of what was the Emergent Village Voice and is now the Emerging Voices blogging community. As curators of this blog we have been listening deeply to the emergent conversation. We have been and will continue to be influenced by those in the margins who wish to speak to this place of crossroads, passing encounters and shared passions. We are mix of new and seasoned voices as well as friends who would identify themselves... Read more

2014-09-09T16:11:46-05:00

Social media has leveled the playing field of sharing one’s thoughts. With Facebook, blogs, and pictorial sites like Instagram, anyone who has access to a computer and the Internet can broadcast what they are thinking at any time. Since library science (how to use a library) and philosophy (logic and ethics) are no longer taught in public schools, I’d like to comment on being discerning about the thoughts we read. Not everything we read is worth taking in. Not every... Read more

2014-08-21T13:51:47-05:00

Raining brimstone, epic deluges, trumpets from heaven…is your God showing off? We have all heard of insecure people who act out by throwing fits.  The kid who bullies others on recess, the child who screams when he doesn’t get his way, the buff guy in the military who wants to fight at the bar.  We call these people “show-offs” and “assholes.”  But what happens when you find your divinity throwing a hissy-fit? One of the first things you can do... Read more

2014-05-19T13:37:31-05:00

For many here on Emergent Village and Patheos Progressive Christian, working with Christians is second-nature.  But there are many of us atheists, humanists, skeptics, and non-believers, who have little to no idea about how to work with Christians.  Some of us (atheists and Christians) cannot get beyond the trivial Facebook debates, the subtle intellectual jabs at each other, and the unsophisticated, meme-based, generalizations of Christians and atheists. This is a great opportunity for learning.  Me and former SDA pastor Ryan... Read more

2014-05-10T15:03:31-05:00

I remember having a back-and-forth with a Christian about the violence historically committed by Christians: the early persecution of heretics, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the European “Wars of Religion,” slavery in the Americas, up to the bombings of abortion clinics and the killing of doctors who perform abortions.  His response, which has stuck with me to this day, was “don’t compare the best of your tradition with the worst of mine.”  This comment really made me think.  He was... Read more




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