A resurrection story from guest blogger Mark Yaconelli. Read more

What makes a pilgrim a pilgrim? Spiritual Director and poet Rebecca Cole-Turner offers this post from Florence, Italy in the midst of Holy Week. This is the first of a series of reflections she'll share with us at Faith Forward from her pilgrimage abroad. Read more

I'm going to a foot-washing tonight. Now before you say "oooo, yuck," you should know that it's fully biblical, with long roots in the tradition. Many Christians include a foot-washing ceremony as part of their Maundy Thursday service. Indeed, one of the most radical acts Jesus performed on the night before his arrest... Read more

In case you missed church last Sunday, here's a powerful sermon from the Rev. George Anastos, Pastor of First Plymouth Congregational Church in Denver, CO. I was extremely moved by his reflections on Jesus' humble, unconventional entry into Jerusalem, especially as they were followed by a communal bringing forward of coats for the Denver Rescue Mission. As coats piled up on the piano in the middle of the narthex, higher than the last person could even reach, I experienced a kairos moment of being both in that sanctuary and also being on the road to Jerusalem with Jesus, throwing down my coat before him. Read more

One of my favorite responses from the many I appreciated from my interview with Brian McLaren was this one regarding inter-faith dialogue: "Central to my vision of a new kind of Christianity is the realization that my primary call to my neighbor of another religion is to love him or her as myself. Not terribly radical, I know, but surprisingly rare! This is especially important at our moment in history, it seems to me, because Jesus called us to be peacemakers, and God knows we need more peacemakers across religious boundaries. Read more

Mark Yaconelli is the King of story-telling.  Founder and director of the innovative Youth Ministry & Spirituality Project for 10 years and now a popular speaker, teacher and author, Mark can weave a tale that has you laughing hysterically one minute and weeping the next.  Whatever the subject, he always manages to touch your heart in ways you never could have expected.   He recently wrote a book of stories about prayer called Wonder, Fear & Longing. You can read an... Read more

Last week, I attended an outstanding conference at Claremont School of Theology called Theology After Google. The hope of the conference was to encourage progressive Christians to "leverage new technologies and networks for transformative ministry." The event was hosted by a passionate group of progressive theologians including Philip Clayton and Tripp Fuller, founders of Transforming Theology, a grassroots project to get theology out of the academy and back into the church. “Progressive Christian theologians have some vitally important things to say,” said Tripp Fuller, event co-creator, “things that both the church and society desperately need to hear. We need to equip progressive Christians to effectively use the new technologies, social media and social networking. When it comes to the effective communication of message, the Religious Right is running circles around us.” Read more