By Ched Myers Talk at Presbybop’s “Jazz and the Church” Conference, New York. 11 pp. Azusa Street today is a garbage-strewn lane tucked away in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, about 5 miles from my home in East L.A. The teeming tourists and transients are ignorant about its historical significance in the history of…
By Ched Myers The Living Pulpit, pp 28-31. 7 pp. “THE VOCABULARY OF CHRISTIAN FAITH SUFFERS from misunderstanding at every turn,” writes Canadian theologian Douglas John Hall, “but no one term is as badly understood in both society and church as the little word, ‘sin’.” Most modern critics of Christianity would concur. Dour Christian discourses…
By Ched Myers I. “Same Sex Marriage: A Sacramental Unity” (with Bill Wylie Kellermann, posted on SojoNet) and II. “Splitting the Difference? Same-Sex Marriage as a Justice Issue” unpublished. 13 pp. In 1963, William Stringfellow—Movement theologian, Sojourners mentor and gay man—had the following to say about mainline churches who were pondering whether to join the…
By Ched Myers Priests & People (UK). 8 pp. “LOOK, WHAT MAGNIFICENT STRUCTURES!” (Mk 13:1). Jesus’ disciples cower fascinated, before the Jerusalem Temple edifice. It is indeed a magnificent structurebigger than life, architectural symbol of their social project. But Mark’s Jesus refuses to be impressed, for he understands what they do not. This House must…
By Ched Myers Talk given to the Episcopal Urban Caucus, spring 2002. Published by The Witness online. 12 pp. Not too far from where we sit today, hidden at the heart of post-modern Los Angeles, surrounded by gleaming skyscrapers built by and for Big Capital, lies the placita, once the center of the old Mexican…
By Ched Myers The Other Side. 1 p. This week a Baptist friend from North Carolina wrote me asking for some biblical background to the phrase “God Bless America.” He was commendably trying to discern the spirits of the times, a difficult task in days of warmaking. I got to work right away because of…
By Ched Myers Catholic New Times (Toronto), p. 9. 2 pp. Article link – this will take you to this free article on the Shalom Center website (in a new window). A friend of mine who teaches in the local public school reported that this was the first question asked her by third graders the morning…
By Ched Myers A chapter in The Other Side of Sin: Woundedness from the Perspective of the Sinned-Against, edited by Susan Nelson and Andrew Sung Park, SUNY Press, pp 77-108. 23 pp. “The vocabulary of Christian faith suffers from misunderstanding at every turn, but no one term is as badly understood in both society and…
By Ched Myers Ministerial Formation (WCC, Geneva) . 5 pp. This brief reflection proceeds from the conviction that the goal of theological education in the North American context today should be to equip everyday disciples to overcome their sense of disempowerment and denial in order to engage in the evangelical works of mercy and service,…
By Ched Myers Herald Press. 2 pp. The authors of Set Free: A Journey Toward Solidarity Against Racism advocate that we must all contribute to the struggle to “melt the iceberg of racism.” Similarly, Christina Pacosz concludes her reflection on the shattering impact of lies: “We must chase them to the sun, again and again,…