Writer / Pastor
What a week this has been with Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony for the Kavanaugh hearings! The Christian Century asked me to write a blogpost for them, so I did. It’s available here: Racism, Sexual Predators, and My Experiences with Both.
I wrote an article for Christian Century, which will appear in the Aug 1 print edition. It’s available online today. Women of the Bible Say #MeToo.
The editors chose to accompany the articles with great art. There will also be an accompanying article by Anna Carter Florence about the story of Tamar.
I hope the articles inspire preachers to tackle some of these texts in the pulpit. If you have delivered or heard sermons or lessons on these texts, I’m curious about your experiences, and what kind of reaction you received.
Use the “Contact” tab or my Facebook page. I’d love to hear from you!
In his retirement, my father did research and writing about the denomination he loved. One of those articles traced the fight within the Christian Reformed Church over the issue of women voting. When he first told me about the research, I thought my dad meant women voting in church — fights I could remember from my childhood in the late 1960s. But my dad laughed and said that long before those fights, the Dutch folk of western Michigan had resisted woman suffrage. In the article he explains why, quoting Klaas Schoolland, a Calvin professor: “Woman suffrage will break the divine laws of human life.”
Conflicts in churches don’t change that much. People in power resist any attempts to shift the power balance, then ascribe their thinking to the Divine One. Today’s conflicts over women’s ordination, racial justice, and LGBT inclusion all stem from the same root. [Read more…] about The Christian Reformed Church & Woman Suffrage
I first wrote these devotions a year ago (spring 2017) to connect to my memoir. In the wake of the #MeToo movement (fall 2017), these scriptures have become all the more poignant and powerful. Each devotion is one page and includes a brief passage of scripture, reflection questions, prayer prompts and a color photo of a current event. Try asking your group: What does the photo have to do with the Bible passage? To receive the devotions as a pdf, “Subscribe” (right sidebar) or send me a message using “Contact” (tab above).
The five passages are:
~ Psalm 22 “Why Have You Abandoned Me?”
~ Isaiah 43 “Before & After”
~ 2 Samuel 13 “Carrying My Sexual Shame”
~ Luke 18 “She Persisted”
~ Mark 5 “Boldly Seeking Jesus”
I had no idea that either of my essays had been submitted for an ACP award. I’m grateful to Christian Century for submitting A Pastor’s MeToo Story and to Sojourners for submitting Skin in the Game. Both publications received many awards and I am honored to be among them. Here’s the link to the full list of awards.
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