Matt grew up in the Episcopal Church. One Sunday he appeared at the altar—with his arms crossed over his chest.
Eucharist
My ecclesiastical criminality has been going on for 45 years. It all started at a Trappist abbey in Virginia.
Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe, by Erin S. Lane
Erin Lane wants to help millennials and those who love them understand the real countercultural impulse of the church.
Contesting Catholicity, by Curtis W. Freeman
Curtis Freeman's book addresses primarily Baptists, but his concern matters to all Christians who live in denominational separatism but are summoned to embrace the richness of catholic faith.
"After we receive the bread, we're gonna go to the kitchen," he said. "We have cheese pizza tonight."
Worship for the Whole People of God, by Ruth C. Duck
Ruth Duck takes a balanced approach to liturgy. Her aim is not to champion a single style but to offer a foundation for reflection.
A number of activist organizations are declaring March 15-17 "National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath Weekend." It's not clear if this is meant to replace The Brady Center's "God Not Guns Sabbath," which has been observed on the last weekend of September for a number of years. But the organizers seem eager to keep the event broadly ecumenical and interfaith.
This past Sunday was the Epiphany, the celebration of the incarnate Christ made manifest. It also happened to be the Sunday I decided to visit a congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church. The MCC is more theologically liberal than I am, so I braced myself for some hangups. But I also wanted to remain as open as possible to experiencing God in a different context. I’m glad I went.
On Nov. 6, our church building was both a polling place and a place for worship. At some point I began to see the latter as the main event.
Offering the elements to the unbaptized can be seen as a development and not a revolution, but it is a significant change. Is it a good one?