Land of the Free?
My most recent post at Revgals.
Whose Religious Freedom?
I spoke this weekend at the Community Progressive event in Julia Davis Park. Here’s a recap of my remarks, updated in light of the Supreme Court ruling today. There seems to be some confusion in our political and cultural discourse lately about what, exactly, constitutes “religious freedom”. The idea of religious freedom is deeply coded…
Gift of Sabbath
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on June 28, 2014 (This was at our Saturday Evening Sabbath Service. We’ll be doing this, instead of Sunday worship, the last week of each month.) Exodus 18:13-27 Thank you for being here tonight. I truly am grateful for your willingness to try something very different. I know…
Buffer Zones around Women’s Rights
The Supreme Court today unanimously (!) overturned 35 foot buffer zones to protect women from being harassed by anti-choice protesters outside women’s health clinics. (They did split 5-4 on whether there should be any buffer zones at all, but the overturning of the Massachusetts law was unanimous). There had been a 35 foot buffer zone…
Marriage Equality in the Presbyterian Church (USA)
I’m currently in Detroit at the General Assembly of our church. I’m here to serve as committee support for one of the committees, and am thankful for that opportunity. The church has done so much for me throughout my whole life, that it is a gift to be able to give back to her. Anyhow,…
GA: Fundamentalism
I just read a post about the upcoming General Assembly of the PCUSA. “Shall the Fundamentalists Win“. Chris Currie, a fellow PCUSA pastor I haven’t yet met, although I hope to soon, revisits the Fundamentalist/Modernist Controversy of almost 100 years ago. His conclusion seems to be that those of us seeking marriage equality in the…
Tell that hurricane to cover her shoulders
I just heard the news. Hurricanes named for women are deadlier than hurricanes with male names. Apparently, feminine named hurricanes are perceived as less threatening than masculine named storms. “People may be dying as a result of the femininity of a hurricane (name),” says Sharon Shavitt, a professor of marketing at Illinois and a co-author…
Courage to Understand
A sermon preached on Pentecost at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho June 8, 2014 Acts 2:1-21 Today we celebrate the birthday of the church, as we remember the day the Spirit descended and helped a bunch of disparate Jesus followers coalesce and come together with one purpose—to proclaim the good news of God, regardless…
Milk Stamp Love
This post is a few months old. But today (July 23) a friend had an interesting encounter at the Post Office in Meridian, Idaho. Here was there interaction, as she reported it on Facebook: Could I please get some stamps? “Yes, which ones would you like?” Do you have any Harvey Milk stamps? “Yes, but…
GA: Civil and Religious Marriage
This is another post about the upcoming General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA. There is an overture headed to General Assembly’s Civil Unions and Marriage Committee that would seek to pull clergy out of civil marriage altogether. I am sympathetic to Lehigh Presbytery’s intention. I stopped signing state marriage licenses a few years ago.…
Glass Overflowing 