Category: Uncategorized

Landmark Vatican conference rejects just war theory, asks for encyclical on nonviolence

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Bandiera_pace-300x201Update from Rose Berger

I’m pleased to share news of our phenomenal gathering this week in Rome. Please read the article from the National Catholic Reporter (below). We have had a tremendous week. Today we were able to deliver the final document to the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace. Marie Dennis addressed an envelope to Papa Francesco containing the statement and a personal letter and it was placed on Cardinal Turkson’s desk for delivery. Continue reading “Landmark Vatican conference rejects just war theory, asks for encyclical on nonviolence” →

Miriam

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Feminist/Womanist/Queer Liberation and Theology, Uncategorized2 Comments

DSC_0158.JPGBy Tevyn East, Carnival de Resistance

“So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days; and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again.”      Numbers 12: 15

In May of 2012, I entered into an artistic collaboration with Jay Beck, my now husband and partner in producing the Carnival de Resistance. We had established that I would come up to Philadelphia and together we would create works of theater that re-contextualize stories from scripture, based around each of the four elements: Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. Immediately upon landing, we discerned that we would first focus on the voice of water and that I would delve into the story of Miriam, Moses’ sister. Little did I know that this choice would throw me straight into the deep end! Continue reading “Miriam” →

Regulation and Resistance in North Carolina

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Feminist/Womanist/Queer Liberation and Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment
obama
President Obama creates gender inclusive bathroom in the White House.

By Joyce Hollyday

On Easter Sunday, during our sharing of joys and concerns at Circle of Mercy, a longtime member reminded us through her tears that her teenaged transgender nephew moved here to Asheville, North Carolina, from a Navy-centric city on the Virginia coast to be in a safer place. I had breathed a sigh of relief when we welcomed him a few years ago and facilitated connections with Youth OutRight, an empowered and empowering local LGBTQ community. Continue reading “Regulation and Resistance in North Carolina” →

Just War, Just Peace, Just Catholic: A Gathering in Rome

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Bandiera_pace-300x201.jpgBy Rose Berger

We will be following Rose and posting updates on the blog, but you can also keep up to date on her blog at http://rosemarieberger.com.

Here’s the news. I’m headed to Rome (Italy, not Georgia) on Saturday, for a week to participate in the first-ever Vatican conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence, co-sponsored by Pax Christi International and the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace.

I was asked to contribute a backgrounder paper titled “No Longer Legitimating War: Christians and Just Peace,” which (by the skin of my teeth and lots of help) I did. Continue reading “Just War, Just Peace, Just Catholic: A Gathering in Rome” →

Witnesses to the Resurrection: I know Hope in Clay

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment
IMG_1438
Photo Credit: Denise Griebler

By Denise Griebler, Detroit, MI

I know hope in clay.
Soft and cold in my hands, I turn and pat wedge to ball.  A tender rhythmic caress.
Alongside radiator clangs and spews,
window pours in sunlight, together they warm my shoulder.
Sit and slap a mound of mud to wheel.
Breathe.  Lean in.  Center.
Who Knows what will rise up? Continue reading “Witnesses to the Resurrection: I know Hope in Clay” →

Do You Love Me?

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BosomBy Wes Howard-Brook and Sue Ferguson Johnson, Commentary on the lectionary for April 10, 2016

It apparently wasn’t long after the first Easter that the first discipleship communities had to grapple with the question of leadership and authority within their own circles. All of the gospels show Jesus strongly rejecting the kind of domination-over-others approach that was the norm in the Roman Empire. But the fact that the evangelists consistently show the disciples fighting to be #1 among themselves reveals how much of a struggle this must have been. Continue reading “Do You Love Me?” →

Triumphant

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jesus christ.jpgBy Will O’Brien, Alternative Seminary, Philadelphia, PA

At Easter services yesterday, our congregation celebrated the resurrection with the requisite Easter hymns.  Though a few lesser known ones were thrown in the mix, we indulged in many of the great soul-stirring choruses:  “Up from the grave he arose,…” “Christ Our Lord Is Risen Today,…”

On a personal aesthetic note, I don’t bear a lot of fondness for some of these old classics, and their theology occasionally rubs me the wrong way.  But on this particular Easter Sunday, I was struck by how these hymns are almost without exception imbued with a brash and bold tone of triumphalism.  We hailed the mighty and exalted king.  In illustrious melody, we sang of glorious victory over foes (namely sin, death, and despair) vanquished and conquered. Continue reading “Triumphant” →

Practice Resurrection

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Art as Resistance, UncategorizedLeave a comment

fox.jpgManifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
By Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know. Continue reading “Practice Resurrection” →

Witnesses to the Resurrection

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

100_4998.JPGDuring Fridays in Easter we will be sharing reflections on where folks are seeing resurrection today. Please consider contributing and email it to lydiaiwk@gmail.com

By Kyle Mitchell, Cleveland, OH

I see resurrection happen as the silver maple in the front yard begins it’s spring ritual. Cold nights and warm days produce the mysterious freeze and thaw cycles that allow the sap to flow during the day. Participating in a tradition that began with the indigenous people of North America, I make a small hole in the tree which allows the sap to flow into my bucket during the day. When the buds on the tree “pop” and the sap stops flowing, I take what I have, make a little fire in the backyard, and boil it down to make maple syrup.

Continue reading “Witnesses to the Resurrection” →