While there’s been a lot of talk about diversity and inclusivity, the one conversation that is needed is how often diversity is mistaken for inclusivity. The two are not the same.
When I began writing this column, I talked about how the community garden I manage led me to bemoan the word “charity.” I soon realized that I was not alone in this. More churches seem to be moving away from charity models, reorienting themselves to justice models.
Breathing is something so taken for granted that we rarely see it full of sacrality. It is breath that allows us to speak, sing, cry and laugh. It is breath that connects us to all of Creation.
Sunday morning worship was long over with, yet the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Florida, was filled with activity. Musicians setting their music stands at the right height. Singers warming up their vocal cords. Ushers greeting those who came for what would be an inspiring afternoon of a community showing their “Love in Action.”
In the 1922 children’s classic “The Velveteen Rabbit,” Margery Williams tells the story of a stuffed rabbit who desperately wants to be real. Snuggled in a little boy’s Christmas stocking, the toy seems to be the most wonderful gift ever. That’s until it notices the mechanical toys under the tree. Feeling inadequate, the rabbit asks the oldest toy in the nursery named “Skin Horse” — because all its fur had been hugged off — “What is real?” And with that, the rabbit’s adventure begins.
A century has gone by since the book’s debut, but the message is still relevant today — perhaps even more so in an age of social media facades.
Samuel Polanco is no stranger to the power of walls — especially their potential to exclude and keep people like him from being their best selves. But the 2022 graduate of the Menaul School — a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related college preparatory school in Albuquerque, New Mexico — credits his educational experience as being instrumental in breaking down many barriers.
There’s a worshiping community near Detroit where the average age is around 85, with many who attend pushing 90 and then some. It sounds like a congregation, like many others across the country, that is struggling and will likely fold in a few years, right? Wrong. This church body is bustling and growing steadily with no hint of slowing down.
How does our faith make a difference in the life of the world? How does it address systemic issues for real change? These are the questions the Rev. Thomas Watkins finds himself asking on a regular basis.
Wind out of the northwest, crisp and chill. I’m wishing I’d worn one more layer for this morning’s walk, maybe a shell over the fleece. Brr. Autumn is here.
Counting people in the pews is no longer a viable way of recording worship numbers. With some joining online, how does a church measure attendance trends?
