Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Year of Sundays

Amanda here, just checking in to let everyone know Joel and I haven’t disappeared! We’re still going to church (see photographic evidence above)! It’s just been an incredibly busy summer – I’m in school and Joel just opened a new business – and neither of us has reliable childcare, which means our writing time has…

I was still a teenager when I first met world class drummer Ron Steen. He’d dropped by my jazz band class at Jefferson High School—then a performing arts “magnet” school—to offer some of the young turks like myself a few words of advice. Being 15, a drummer and roughly as neurotic as I am now,…

You probably know them by their bikes, white shirts, dark ties, lily-white complexions and the fact they show up at your front door at the worst possible time. Today we decided to turn the tables and show up on their front porch. Ha! Mormons, a.k.a. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day [sic] Saints are most…

Our first trip to the World Buddhist Preaching Association took place at noon on a Tuesday. Joel and I had just finished a gut-wrenching therapy session together, the kind that leaves you feeling exhausted, hungry, vulnerable and more in love than you ever imagined you could be. We filled up on pizza afterward and then…

By Joel Gunz Every Sunday at 6 p.m., Augustana Lutheran Church does a Jazz Service, starring some of Portland’s musical luminaries, like diva Marilyn Keller and legendary drummer and Pope of the jam session scene Ron Steen.  I’m sure the church has taken its share of flack for this (isn’t jazz worldly, or something?), but…

The United Methodist church is big. How big? Worldwide, about 12 million members and over 40,000 congregations big. Put another way, UMC is the largest mainline (read: establishment, fairly liberal, non-Catholic) religion and the second-largest Protestant religion in the United States. Put still another way, unless you subsist on deliveries from Amazon.com, eBay and Domino’s,…

By Amanda P. Westmont Two weeks ago, I had one of the worst days I can ever remember having. I’d spent the afternoon up to my eyeballs in pure, unabashed ugliness. I honestly thought it couldn’t get any worse, but then a police officer pounded on my front door, read me my rights and accused…

Due to pressing commitments — a wedding, a music gig, a poopstorm of other activities — we weren’t able to make it to church this last weekend. But never fear! We aren’t going to let you down this week, dear RSS feed reader. Tonight we’ll make up for our absence with a trip to the…

I’m not sure I’ve admitted it on this blog before, but I happen to be a registered Republican. Wait! Where are you going?! Stay! I’m a NICE Republican, I swear. I’m pro gay marriage! I’m against don’t ask, don’t tell! I want the government out of my bedroom too! I also just happen to be…

By Joel Gunz In a perfect world, you would never see a church set aside just for gay people. It makes about as much sense as starting a church for the left-handed, the red-headed  or the peanut-intolerant. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in the world we’ve got and I’m glad…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners
More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad