The Political Reality at the Heart of the Gospel

On December 8, 2018December 3, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

By Pádraig Ó Tuama, comments on the Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Advent (reposted from Spirituality of Conflict)

Luke’s gospel is an extraordinarily political one. Over and over, the writer mentions the names of people in power, referencing their eras, areas of governance and even some of their policies.

The readings for the past two weeks have been filled with warnings about signs of the times. Now, rather than talking about signs, Luke’s gospel text drops us into the actual events, describing in detail the political landscape of the times. Even a casual acquaintance with the gospel texts brings some familiarity with the complicated dynamics of conflict in the politics of the day — names such as Herod, Pilate, Judea, Pharisees, Scribes, Samaria, Syrophonecia, Gentile, Rome, all trip off the tongue, even though our knowledge about these geographies, groups and geopolitical realities might be patchy. Continue reading “The Political Reality at the Heart of the Gospel” →

An Opportunity to Network and Be Inspired

On December 7, 2018December 4, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

Wowasake kin slolyapo wowahwala he e (“Know the power that is peace”) Diptych icon of Black Elk by Robert Two Bulls.

Come join RadicalDiscipleship.Net at the 2019 Bartimaeus Kinsler Institute in sunny Southern California Feb 18-22, 2019.

The 2019 BKI theme is “Indigenous Justice and Christian Faith: Land, Law, Language.” The week will feature a great line up of indigenous resource people, the acclaimed theater production “Discovery,” workshops, art, music and more.

Registration is now open: Registration and Accommodation Package Details

Registration includes, accommodation (most packages), all study materials and 11 meals (Mon dinner-Fri breakfast).

Early bird registration closes: Dec 16th, 2018
Registration deadline: Feb 3rd, 2019

Click on HERE for more information!!!!

World on the Scales: The Apocalyptic Season of the Church Year

On December 7, 2018December 4, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

By Ched Myers

Note: These thoughts were shared on the 26th Sunday after Pentecost at Farm Church to give context for the readings and theme of the service. They are germane to this long but informative issue of the BCM Enews.

Yesterday Elaine and I attended the memorial service for my oldest friend’s mother. She was the last of the parents of our tight-knit neighborhood group to cross over during the last year, a string that began with my mom’s passing. We gathered at the venerable old St. James Episcopal church in South Pasadena, where I was baptized as an infant. The memories shared yesterday were about the halcyon days of our little suburban community—and it was by all means a very privileged and insular context in which to grow up. But as I listened, I was mindful of the fact that actually, from puberty onward, I was a pretty alienated kid. In 1970, I was 15, a vegetarian, and already marching against the Indochina war, to the great exasperation of my father, a veteran of two wars. This was on the heels of the 60s, and my older brother was stuck in Vietnam, sending me coded antiwar letters—in Elvish script! Continue reading “World on the Scales: The Apocalyptic Season of the Church Year” →

Wild Lectionary: Word of God in the Wilderness

On December 6, 2018December 5, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

hill country of Judea.jpg — Photo Credit: Hill Country of Judea by Ferrell Jenkins

Advent 2C

Luke 3.1-6

By Wes Howard-Brook and Sue Ferguson Johnson

Just as the CNN and MSNBC cameras turn their lenses to the president and his people, God’s Word comes to an obscure group of folk whose hope is elsewhere.

We who read the pages of Radical Discipleship hardly need to be told that our hope is not in Trump or the Democratic Party or any of the professional purveyors of the imperial status quo. So it is not surprising to us to hear that in Luke’s time, the Word of God was heard not in Rome or Judea or elsewhere in the corridors of worldly power but in the wilderness.

Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Word of God in the Wilderness” →

Sermon for First Week of Advent

On December 4, 2018December 3, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, UncategorizedLeave a comment

By Rev. Denise Griebler
St. Peter’s Episcopal
Dec. 2, 2018
Advent 1C & Homecoming

An earthquake in Alaska, fires in California, hurricanes, flooding, draught, the wars – especially the war in Yemen – refugees at the border, people living under constant threat of deportation or eviction or water shut-off or exorbitant rent increases and more auto plants being shut down. The Rev. Karen Kerrigan (who was just ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest here at St. Peter’s) observed that we don’t even need to read the gospel this week – we could just read the newspaper! Continue reading “Sermon for First Week of Advent” →

The Politics of Christmas

On December 3, 2018December 1, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

From our comrades at the Alternative Seminary in Philly…just in time for Advent:

In an age of Trumpism, can we liberate Christmas from its cultural captivity and rediscover the truly prophetic story that speaks to the crises of our world today?

Peace on Earth and the Politics of Christmas

Saturday morning, December 8
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Project HOME, 1515 Fairmount Avenue

Much of the Christian church in the United States has been co-opted by an American gospel of prosperity, racism, violence, and militant nationalism. The celebration of Christmas is a victim of that co-optation: It is often wrapped in innocent, feel-good, Hallmark-card imagery. But in fact the biblical texts describing the coming of Jesus are making powerful assertions about the politics of the Bible that speak very much to our contemporary global crises. We will reflect on the “nativity narratives” in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to see how they express core biblical themes of justice and liberation. We will try to “un-domesticate” these tales of liberation and reflect on how they are truly challenging us in terms of our allegiance and our discipleship. A perfect event for Advent. A light breakfast will be served. A $5 donation is requested to cover costs.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Will O’Brien at (215) 842-1790 or wobrien@alternativeseminary.net by December 5.

The Alternative Seminary is a program of biblical and theological study and reflection designed to foster an authentic biblical witness in the modern world. For more information, see http://www.alternativeseminary.net.

It’s the End of the World as We Know It

On December 3, 2018December 1, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

By Kim Redigan, an Advent reflection on Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 for the Faith Outreach Committee of the People’s Water Board (Detroit, MI)

The gospel reading this first week of Advent is wildly apocalyptic and, ultimately, hope-filled.

Jesus describes a creation in travail. Roaring waves and raging oceans are dire signs of a planet – a people – in distress. Water speaks in the cataclysmic tongues of rising sea levels, poisoned water, privatized water, weaponized water, withheld water. Continue reading “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” →

Loving our Way through the Darkest of Days

On December 2, 2018December 1, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological Animation, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

WWC Advent Week 1 – December 2 – 8

“Each of us is capable of growing our powers and skills in giving and receiving love. Despite this truth many die of thirst in a freshwater lake. All about us are people who can give us what we need; we must only learn to ask and then pay up by receiving. When we lay bare our needs and open ourselves to receive love we move from independence to interdependence, the basis of true community.”
— Gerald and Elisabeth Jud, Training in the Art of Loving

December 2:
Week One’s Skill of Loving is SEEING.

SEEING: I see you in your uniqueness, not how I want or assume you to be, and I allow myself to be seen. Continue reading “Loving our Way through the Darkest of Days” →

The Season of Advent: Loving Our Way Through these Darkest of Days

On December 2, 2018December 1, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

From our comrades at The Wilderness Way in Portland, OR:

NOTE: We will post a follow-up to this intro piece at 2pmEST today!!

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the darkest days of the year approach, coinciding with the season of Advent in the Christian liturgical year, we at The Wilderness Way invite you into a collective spiritual practice of LOVING. Continue reading “The Season of Advent: Loving Our Way Through these Darkest of Days” →

We Are Already Related

On December 1, 2018November 29, 2018 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Cloud of Witnesses, Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

From Walter Wink in Just Jesus: My Struggle to Become Human (2014):

In the integral worldview, however, prayer is given the place of honor in the life of the spirit. Since we are all already related to each other, we are immediate to each other. So prayer becomes the most natural thing in the world. We don’t have to pump ourselves up in order to release a charge of healing energy. The other persons don’t even have to know we are praying for them. Because we are already related, and we are one body in God, God’s healing power is already there and here (but there is no distance). Our prayer is simply a matter of opening the situation to God.