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Barbara Brown Taylor On Giving Up Power and “Spiritual Poverty”
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
Leaving Church, by Barbara Brown Taylor, is (somewhat ironically) full of enriching meditations for the church. When she left a twenty-year career as a priest and in essence also “left church,” Brown Taylor says she was compelled to let go of her power and in turn share that power with a priesthood of all believers.…
Garbage Pail Priests?
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
Do you remember Garbage Pail Kids? I never collected them, but they were a hot item growing up. Each card character suffers from some ridiculous abnormality or terrible fate. Take “Adam Bomb,” or “Glandular Angela,” or “Half-Nelson,” for instance. Or, a cave girl in her crib by the name of “Mad Donna.” Apparently the series is…
Why “Church, Inc” Has Failed Us and Why Jesus Won’t: An Interview
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
And now, finally, what a number of you have been waiting for…Today’s guest is missional church thinker and activist Lance Ford, who is organizing the upcoming Sentralized gathering in Kansas City, Missouri (September 27-29), in which I’ll be taking part. He is also the author of the newly released book, Unleader: Reimagining Leadership And Why We…
Recovering the Lost Language of God’s Mission
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
Andrew Sullivan’s “The Dish” featured a piece yesterday on how radio programming initiatives are keeping alive the dying minority languages of New Zealand’s Maori peoples: “In the Maori community of New Zealand, for example, the combination of 21 radio stations and rigorous early childhood immersion programs have brought Maori-languages speakers from an all-time low of…
Apostolic Movements: A Permanent Revolution?
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
Alan Hirsch’s latest book, The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imagination and Practice for the 21st Century Church, co-authored with Tim Catchim, is on my must-read list. Apparently, Hirsch’s main point, according to Hirsch’s Books and Culture reviewer, Gregory Metzger, is this: the five-fold model for ministry set out by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4- “apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds…
“Ask Sister Gramick Anything: How Would You Reform the Church?”
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
I’ve just made the virtual acquaintance of Sister Jeanine Gramick, thanks to yesterday’s installment of Andrew Sullivan’s series, “Ask Sister Gramick Anything.” Sr. Gramick may be best known for her work at the helm of an organization that she started back in 1977: “New Ways Ministry” advocates for the inclusion of gay and lesbian Catholics…
The “Signs and Wonders” of the Kingdom of God
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
The “2012 Kingdom Culture” conference hosted annually by Bethel Church, in Redding, California, starts today- and I’m intrigued. (Are any of you participating? I’d be curious to hear more about what you know or have experienced here.) I’m most intrigued because of the way that Bethel Church describes itself: their web site reads that “the…
“What Is a Third Place?”
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
“Third place.” If it’s not my position in a race to the ice cream running neck and neck with a five-year-old and a two-year-old, what is it? Fellow saint and sinner Lance Ford has posted an enlightening article (credit: Sentralized) on the nature of these “third places.” And, having read the article, I’m struck by…
What To Make Of God’s Annoying Fan Club?
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
“I’ve got nothing against God, it’s His fan club I can’t stand!,” goes one bumper sticker. Endless scandals, bickering, and declining membership and budgets in many denominations all point to a long, historical track record of failures to be the “enchanted community” (to borrow fellow saint and sinner Bob Henderson’s expression) the church claims to…
The Lesson of the Refrigerator Repairman
By
Kristina Robb-Dover
He showed up at our door yesterday afternoon to fix the refrigerator. (What do you get when a professor and a minister have a broken refrigerator? Answer: An appliance repairman.) The first words out of his mouth signaled he was Russian. Maybe I should have guessed what was coming when I asked in my now…
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