Emergent Village
We’ve heard of loaded guns. We’ve heard of loaded questions. What about loaded welcomes? (You can check out more of my cartoons over at nakedpastor.) Read more
We’ve heard of loaded guns. We’ve heard of loaded questions. What about loaded welcomes? (You can check out more of my cartoons over at nakedpastor.) Read more
There’s an old joke that speaks directly to one of the biggest issues holding back Churches these days: How many Christians does it take to screw in a light bulb? Change? Who said anything about change?!?! I get asked to come in and help struggling churches all over the county. Most of them are aging and see the proverbial writing on the wall if something about their future doesn’t look different soon. Pretty often, I’m asked to unlock the secret... Read more
My favorite Bible story probably shouldn’t be in the Bible. I love the story of the woman caught in adultery found in John 8. I have to be pushing 100 tellings of that particular story in my lifetime. To me, it is gospel in microcosm. But, here’s the thing I tend to gloss over about that section of Scripture. There is almost no chance that the story was in the original manuscript we label the book of John. I won’t... Read more
The reports of the emerging church’s death are greatly exaggerated. The existence of the new Emergent Village Voice blog is one example of a new chapter that’s being written. My experience with the Charlotte Emergent cohort over the past eight years reminds me over and over as I meet and talk with new people joining the conversation every month. Then there’s the ongoing media attention that this movement continues to receive, 10+ years on. Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle, and I... Read more
It’s Advent, and I am waiting for Jesus, trying to keep my eyes open to see him when he shows up. I’ve committed to some particular prayers; I’m meeting one-on-one with each person in my community. I’m listening to the lectionary—listening for clues about where to look. The words of an ancient monk are on my mind: “he comes to us now in order that his future coming may find us prepared.” But I know all the stories about how... Read more
Each week, it seems there is some new article that gets repeatedly shared in my Facebook feed. This week, it was this Op Ed piece in the NY Times by Eric Weiner. In it, he describes himself as one of the “Nones” – those with no religious affiliation, neither a “True Believer” nor an “Angry Atheist”. His piece closes with the plea, “We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but,... Read more
Woops! It surfaced again. Most of the country was shocked to hear the news of an interracial couple being kicked out of the all White, Freewill Baptist Church in Pikeville Kentucky last week. Sure, we were a bit surprised but after all, it is “rural Kentucky” and wasn’t the word “Baptist” used? Easily dismissed as a anomaly, we store the occurrence in the “you know you’re a redneck when” file of our brain and move on but please…Not so fast…... Read more
I am not a Mormon, but my neighbors are. They invited me as a guest to the baptism of their son. I reflect on the experience during my weekly radio show this week. There are a number of insights from that experience that may be meaningful to us all. Read more
Joseph Edelheit, is a Reform Rabbi—retired from Temple Israel, Minneapolis in 2001—and now Director and Professor of Religious and Jewish Studies at St Cloud State University. His D Min is in Christian Theology from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He is a founding Director of Living India an NGO doing HIV/AIDS work in rural India. He has been called, Solomon Porch’s Rabbi where he teaches and does dialogue sermons with Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. This semester... Read more
In our family, we saturate the airwaves with Christmas music during the Advent season. We play it in the car, and as soon as we get home, and all through dinner, and as the kids are nodding off to bed. Every year, I tend to develop a new favorite song of the season. This year, it’s “Once in Royal David’s City.” I’ve always liked the song, which I place in the category of “fun British Christmas songs” along with “Good... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In