The Rev. Irvin Porter, associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support in the office of Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, has offered up many presentations on the Doctrine of Discovery and the more than 500 years of history between Native American and white people in this country. Porter told Between Two Pulpits hosts Bryce Wiebe and Lauren Rogers Monday that only once has someone responded, “I didn’t do any of that, so why should I feel guilty?”
If you think congregants are busy during Advent and Christmas, consider your preacher, who, as the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick quipped on Wednesday, quoting a friend, must be, during the few hours between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, Billy Graham, Martha Stewart and Santa Claus rolled into one.
As the world enters its second Advent season with the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic still looming over our shoulders, Christians are searching for devotional resources that offer space to connect with God through prayer and reflection. Westminster John Knox Press is publishing two offerings ahead of Advent season to guide Christians in group and individual study as they draw closer to God.
As dark December transitions into nearly-as-dark January and February, preachers in need of resources can serve both God and their hearers by preaching the psalms of lamentation.
The Service of Lament and Hope offered Sunday by Presbyterian Peace Fellowship included a highlight organizers may not have envisioned — poignant online participation by the nearly 30 people gathered to mark the loneliness, heartache and, yes, the hope that people have experienced during a year marked by pandemic, racial injustice, economic devastation and isolation.
