Building Beloved Community Together

Last updated on: May 8, 2016 at 6:32 pm By Amy Butler

This is the last in a series of 3 posts that are part of an on going conversation at The Riverside Church on how the whole church is called to do the work of justice and building beloved community. These posts were inspired by a public discussion called #TrendingAtTRC I held with Beth Ackerman, Head of Riverside’s creation care ministry Beloved Earth, and Lisa Hinds Salmon, Chair of our Finance Committee. Too often the finances of a church and its social justice ministries are viewed as... Read more

At the Intersection of Climate, Race & Poverty

Last updated on: May 8, 2016 at 6:21 pm By Amy Butler

This is the second in a series of 3 posts that are part of an on going conversation at The Riverside Church on how the whole church is called to do the work of justice and building beloved community. These posts were inspired by a public discussion called #TrendingAtTRC I held with Beth Ackerman, Head of Riverside’s creation care ministry Beloved Earth, and Lisa Hinds Salmon, Chair of our Finance Committee. Too often the finances of a church and its social justice ministries are viewed... Read more

The Sermon I Didn’t Preach

Last updated on: May 2, 2016 at 4:32 pm By Amy Butler

In my free time I’ve recently begun watching the PBS series Grantchester, a television show about a village priest who solves murders in his free time. Since my free time doesn’t seem to be as generous as Mr. Chambers’, the main character, it was only the other day that I finally got to season one, episode three, where Mr. Chambers welcomes a novice curate, Mr. Finch, to the parish staff and assigns him his first ever public sermon. There may... Read more

Lame Excuses

Last updated on: May 1, 2016 at 3:59 pm By Amy Butler

Lame Excuses John 5:1-9 A pastor colleague of mine recently told me an unbelievable story. He said a visitor to worship at his church called him a few days after she’d visited to thank him . . . for healing her. You heard it, he told me incredulously: healing her. Baffled at what the woman was saying, my colleague asked the visitor what she meant. She explained that right when he’d begun pronouncing the benediction that previous Sunday, a warm... Read more

When the Whole Church Works for Justice

Last updated on: April 19, 2016 at 2:17 pm By Amy Butler

The Riverside Church has a long history going back to its founding of being a prophetic voice on critical issues of our day (from WWII to Civil Rights, Apartheid in South Africa to LGBT inclusion). We believe that the church is called to do justice and defend the vulnerable. But with so much that needs our attention in the world, it is easy for churches to get pulled in many different directions and for ministries to become siloed from one... Read more

Bathrooms, Baked Goods, and the Mockery of Religious Liberty

Last updated on: April 19, 2016 at 12:33 pm By Amy Butler

I think most Americans, even non-religious Americans, are on board with the idea of religious liberty — in the abstract. But like so many of the things we hold dear, what sounds great in theory becomes deeply complicated when the “rights” we cling to individually begin to conflict. All of us have been watching news reports of contentious legal claims unfolding almost every day across America. From North Carolina to Mississippi and lots of other places in between, the stories... Read more

A Prayer After Resurrection

Last updated on: April 13, 2016 at 7:44 am By Amy Butler

Beautiful words of a prayer written by my friend and colleague Rev. Michael Livingston and delivered in worship Sunday. O God our God, like the disciples after that glorious morning of rebirth we have… Post resurrection blues: the shouting is over, so what now? We’re clueless, locked in our routines, without energy or direction, keeping our heads down, settling for apathy, witnesses to appalling hatred and injustice, curiosity, wonder dimmed when if we would only reach out and touch... Read more

Stopped in Our Tracks

Last updated on: April 13, 2016 at 7:46 am By Amy Butler

The damp chill of the night air began to burn off as the sky lightened and the sun climbed over the edges of the lake. As the temperature rose, the smell of fish and water became sharper, the sound of lapping waves against the hull of the boat rhythmic and lulling after a long night of fishing. The dew on the beach began to glisten and the whole scene looked sparkly. To look out ahead you would have had... Read more

After Resurrection

Last updated on: April 5, 2016 at 4:08 pm By Amy Butler

You know what they say on Easter afternoon in my line of work: “Christ is risen; the pastor is dead.” It sounds funny and perhaps it was, nineteen years ago when I was first ordained. It might be age that makes me grimace with awareness when I hear the phrase now; I’m not sure. So following Easter last week I spent some time reflecting on why this is so—why, aside from the obvious slowing down that comes as the calendar... Read more

Can I Welcome New Life?

Last updated on: March 27, 2016 at 1:00 pm By Amy Butler

Can I Welcome New Life? Luke 24:1-12 Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Blessed Easter to all, this Sunday culmination of what has been a hard 40 days, full of questions here at The Riverside Church internal questions guiding our practice of discipleship during the season of Lent. Every week this Lent the text would ask us another question: Can I resist temptation? Can I give up my life? Can I admit I’m wrong? Can I forgive? Can I... Read more