5th Sunday after Pentecost This Sunday’s text (Lk 10:25-37) is one of Luke’s most famous parables—which means considerable energy is spent by our churches to domesticate it. It is thus typically shrugged off as an archetypal story of charity to those in need, and often occasions veiled antisemitic caricatures of Levites and priests! Moreover, we…
This Sunday’s text (Lk 10:1–11) is Jesus’ reiteration—in greater detail—of his earlier “missionary instructions” (9:1–6). This double tradition, unique to Luke, articulates the gospel’s most important—and tragically most disregarded—teaching about evangelism as community-building. In our 2021 Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization (pp 132-141), Elaine and I focused on the “short version.” We…
3rd Sunday after Pentecost, 2025 The demons of war: Last Sunday’s gospel spoke poignantly to the moment, Trump having joined the bombing of Iran the day before. In Luke’s story of Gerasa, Jesus names and “banishes” the many demons of imperial militarism that were possessing the man of Gerasa and occupying his land. These demons…
In a backdrop of war and oppression, the call for peace and justice is emphasized through the celebration of Juneteenth and the Lukan gospel of Jesus healing the Gerasene demoniac. A twice-monthly Zoom forum will provide resources for studying gospel readings and engaging discussions, beginning July 2. Registration details are included.
HARP Zoom Forum: In case you missed this announcement last week, as we begin Ordinary Time with its unbroken string of Sunday Lukan gospel readings, it’s a good time for a summer and/or fall study group or preaching series!  To help resource such, I will convene a twice-monthly zoom forum, beginning on Wed July 2,…
The second half of May, between travel and conferencing at Kirkridge, were demanding and exhausting, so I wasn’t able to get a blog posted last week for Ascension Sunday. So I’ll include a few comments on that before I focus on Pentecost (a longer reflection on the Ascension will appear in this month’s Partner’s Circle…
Twenty-five years ago, BCM began helping build popular schools to nurture radical theological and social movement literacy. This vision arose from conversations with friend/mentor Bill Wylie-Kellermann, who shares a parallel “genealogy of faith” with me. Over the next decade, the Word & World project curated spaces around the country for intersectional community, conspiracy and collaboration…
Danielle Strickland and James Sholl interview Ched on their “Right Side Up” Podcast, and possible Ordinary Time Zoom forum The Revised Common Lectionary takes an Eastertide detour through John’s gospel this month; I’ll resume my Lukan reflections on Ascension (week of May 26) and Pentecost Sundays (week of June 2). We then begin Ordinary Time,…
  Luke’s Epilogue to his gospel—the amazing Emmaus Road journey—culminates with the scattered, traumatized community of Jesus-followers regathering at a Jerusalem safe house, still trying to reckon with the execution of their rabbi (Lk 24:33-47). There, the beleaguered disciples must struggle with an even more shocking prospect, both joyful and astonishing, as the Risen Christ…
On this day, many Christians ritually perform mutual foot washing, after the example of Jesus in John 13:1-12. It is powerful theater, which means to deconstruct hierarchy and division. There is a very different tradition about foot washing in Luke 7:36-50, which is also a demonstration of solidarity that subverts patriarchy, invisibility and domination. Unfortunately,…