PENTECOST SUNDAY

Acts 2:1-21 or Numbers 11:24-30

Psalm 104:24-34, 35

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 or Acts 2:1-21

John 20:19-23 or

John 7:37-39

Prayer of the Day: O God, on this day you open the hearts of your faithful people by sending into us your Holy Spirit. Direct us by the light of that Spirit, that we may have a right judgment in all things and rejoice at all times in your peace, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” John 20:21-22.

Here on the Outer Cape we have learned to take the weather forecasts with a grain of salt. Maybe that is because the forecasters focus exclusively on population centers on the mainland, like Boston. The Cape and Islands are often an afterthought. What happens weatherwise on the mainland is often quite different from what takes place on Cape Cod. Furthermore, what is happening down in Sandwich or up in Provincetown might be entirely different from what we experience in Wellfleet. This spit of land between the bay and the open ocean is subject to sudden and unpredictable bouts of wind, fog, rain or snow depending upon the capricious mood of the Atlantic. We have even had a couple of tornados during the years I have resided on the Cape.   

One thing you can definitely say about the Holy Spirit: she is as wild and unpredictable as the weather on the Outer Cape. Jesus said as much himself. “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”[1] John 3:8. In the Book of Acts, the church is forever scrambling to catch up with the Spirit whose power leads and sometimes drags the church kicking and screaming into an ever more diverse, inclusive community of equity, mutuality reflective of God’s intent for the whole human family. While the church is a creature of the Holy Spirit, it is not her custodian.

Lutheran theology has always emphasized the centrality of Word and Sacrament as vehicles for the outpouring of the Spirit upon believers. This is all well and good if understood to mean that the Spirit can be relied upon to be present in a redemptive way for all who receive the sacrament of Holy Baptism and partake of the Lord’s Supper. It is a mistake, however, to assume that the activity of the Holy Spirit is constrained by the church’s ministry of Word and Sacrament. In the Bible, the Spirit is frequently found to be active outside the church and its institutions. Prior to Peter’s determination to baptize the household of Cornelius, the Spirit was poured out on that household. Acts 10:44-48. When the disciples reported to Jesus that they had silenced a man outside their company who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, he rebuked them. Mark 9:38-41. So, too, Moses had to reign in his assistant Joshua who was intent on keeping God’s Spirit safely penned within the confines of proper ecclesiastical channels.  Numbers 11:26-30. Thus, while the Spirit can be relied upon to be present where the Word is preached and the Eucharist is celebrated, she will not be confined there.

How does one recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit? While I do not have a hard and fast answer to that question, I believe there are three human traits characterizing people and communities inspired by the Spirit. These are, in no particular order of importance, curiosity, imagination and courage. While there may be no proof of the existence of a creator as such, it seems to me curiosity constitutes pretty good evidence. It has been said that God is nothing but the answer to humanity’s unanswered questions. But the question hiding behind that assertion is what interests me. Why do we have questions that need to be answered? What makes us so damned curious? Why do we wonder what creeps along the ocean depths? Why do we wonder and spend good money trying to find out whether we, as sentient beings, are alone in the universe? Why are we obsessed with figuring out the origins of the cosmos? Why do we want to go to Mars?

I believe that curiosity is a driving force in human development, just as boredom and disinterest are dehumanizing. I believe the Spirit of God is the engine driving human curiosity and the power that drives the church toward becoming the Body of Christ in all of its manifest meaning and beauty. Philip appealed to the skeptical Nathaniel’s curiosity to bring him to Jesus. In Matthew’s gospel, it was curiosity that brought the women to the tomb of Jesus and the revelation of his Resurrection.[2] Curiosity brought together the pagan congregation that heard Paul expound the good news of Jesus Christ at the Areopagus. Curiosity has brought a lot of folks to the churches I served. A thriving Christian community requires a healthy dose of curiosity. It should forever be asking what the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus mean for its presence and work in its community. A healthy church is always bringing thoughtful questions to the scriptures, challenging the assumed interpretations and looking for connections between faith and the world of science, the arts and political life. Sadly, the scriptures, creeds and confessions have too often been misused to shut down questioning and extinguish curiosity. Religion without curiosity becomes stale, boring and oppressive.

That leads me to the second characteristic of inspiration, namely, imagination. By my estimate, about one third of the Hebrew Scriptures consist of poetry, narrative fiction or graphic imagery. Jesus did most of his teaching through parabolic speech. Saint Paul’s letters are rich in metaphor, simile and analogy. The frequently misunderstood Book of Revelation is rich in poetic language and graphic images designed to stimulate the imagination and challenge the beleaguered churches of Asia Minor to recognize the cosmic significance of their struggle to live faithfully under the oppressive reign of empire.

Albert Einstein famously asserted that “imagination is more important than knowledge.” Knowledge, to be sure, is important. It provides a foundation of facts and data. But knowledge is limited to what is already known. By contrast, imagination is boundless. Imagination enables one to look beyond what is and contemplate what might be. As noted by Hebrew Scripture scholar Walter Brueggemann, “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.”[3] Healthy faith communities and individuals do not accept the status quo as a given. It does not resign itself to the inevitability of hunger, economic inequality, famine and war. It is sustained by the vision of a renewed earth on which the nations live in peace and all people live sustainably under the gentle reign of God. Though that vision may seem impossibly far away, we catch glimpses of it even now within communities seeking to live, however imperfectly, in the way of Jesus. The Holy Spirit inspires disciples of Jesus to pattern their lives not on the ways of the existing order, but on a bold vision of the future that only imagination can embrace.  

Finally, there is courage. Courage is not the mere absence of fear. Courage is grounded in the conviction that the future God promises us is more real than what we cynically characterize as “the real world.” Professor of Christian ethics, Stanley Hauerwas once said that the life lived by disciples of Jesus makes no sense apart from the conviction that God raised Jesus from death. The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount are ill suited for life in the environments of business and politics. As one participant in a Bible Study I once led on the Sermon told me, “Pastor, if I conducted business that way in my firm, I’d be crucified.” I don’t believe he knew how prophetic he was being. The Sermon on the Mount is not to be understood as some humanly unachievable ideal. To the contrary, it is the template for the life Jesus actually did live and as a result of which he was crucified. For the disciple, the reign of God is that priceless pearl, that treasure buried in the field for which no sacrifice is too great. It is love for that gentle reign that inspired the words of Martin Luther’s celebrated hymn,

Were they to take our house,

Goods, fame, child, or spouse,

Though life be wrenched away,

They cannot win the day.

The kingdom’s ours forever.[4]

In sum, the Holy Spirit is that wild, unpredictable wind that blows where she wills. Wherever her breath falls, it evokes burning curiosity, ignites the imagination and inspires courageous acts of witness, advocacy, justice, mercy and peacemaking. This is the gift of Pentecost.

Here is a poem by Mary Oliver who speaks of a “wider world” than the “orderly house of reasons and proofs.” Such is the expanded vision I believe is evoked by curiosity, imagination and courage-the signature marks of the Holy Spirit.

The World I Live In

Source: Devotions, (c. 2017 by N.W. Orchard, L.L.C.) p. 3. Mary Oliver (1935-2019) was born in Maple Heights, Ohio. She was deeply influenced by poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Her work received early critical attention with the 1983 publication of a collection of poems entitled American Primitive. She is a recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award. She spent the latter years of her life in Provincetown on Cape Cod, MA before moving to Florida where she died. Many of her poems reflect the unique features, vegetation and wildlife of the Cape. You can read more about Mary Oliver and sample some of her other poems at the Poetry Foundation Website.  

[1] It should be noted that the Greek word Jesus uses for “wind,” (pneuma) is the one he uses in the next sentence for “spirit.”

[2] In both Mark and Luke, the women came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, no doubt convinced that he was dead. But in Matthew’s gospel, the tomb was sealed and guarded. Thus, the women could have had no such purpose as Jesus’ body would have been well out of their reach.

[3] Brueggemann, Walter, The Prophetic Imagination, Second Edition, (c. 2001 by Augsburg Fortress) p. 3.

[4] “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (c. 2006 by Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; pub. by Augsburg Fortress) Hymn #504.

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 1:6-14

Psalm 68:1-10; 32-35

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

Prayer of the Day: O God of glory, your Son Jesus Christ suffered for us and ascended to your right hand. Unite us with Christ and each other in suffering and in joy, that all the world may be drawn into your bountiful presence, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

“And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect [my disciples] in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” John 17:11.

“In the world, but not of it.” It would be a gross misreading of this text to assume that when Jesus says he is praying for his disciples, not the world at large, that he regards the world a lost cause and can only hope that his disciples will manage to survive until he takes them to himself. To understand Jesus’ prayer properly, we need to hear it in the context of John’s gospel as a whole. Recall that in the first chapter of the gospel John the Baptist identifies Jesus as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. In the third chapter, the evangelist declares that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” and that “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17. When Judas asked Jesus why he was revealing himself to the disciples rather than to the world, he responded, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23. Jesus prayer that his disciples will be one even as he and his Father are one, is made with the Easter morning great commission in mind: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21. The disciples are sent out clothed with the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ mission of flooding the world with God’s redemptive love.

What, then, does it look like to be distinct from the world as a disciple of Jesus, yet inseparable from it? How can one be against the world and yet for the world? The analogy I would suggest is that of an “intervention.” The working definition I will use for the term comes from the website for Scienceinsights:

“An intervention is any deliberate action taken to change the course of a situation, whether that’s a health condition, a behavioral crisis, a learning difficulty, or an addiction. The word shows up across medicine, psychology, education, and substance abuse treatment, but the core idea is always the same: stepping in with a plan to improve an outcome that won’t improve on its own.”

The specific context I have in mind is that of intervention to address addiction. The process typically involves members of the person’s social network gathering together and directly describing the specific harm that the individual’s addictive behavior has caused. Each participant shares personal examples and states what actions they will take if the person refuses treatment. Though confrontational by design, the tone is meant to come from love and deep concern rather than anger.

We can view the cross as, among other things, God’s cosmic intervention. That the world would not only reject but cruelly execute the one in whom God’s very self is revealed makes crystal clear how far off the rails it has gone and the self destructive direction in which it is headed. Yet, at the same time, the cross reveals the depth of God’s love for it and the length to which God is willing to go in order to alter its ruinous path. The Resurrection emphasizes God’s unwillingness to throw in the towel even in the face of the world’s rejection.

Intervention is confrontational. Evil, especially in the form of systemic injustice and oppression needs to be addressed with clarity and frankness. In the American context, that means speaking the truth about America as it is experienced by those within our borders living on the margins. That includes, undocumented persons living the shadows, the homeless living in the streets, gay, lesbian and transgender youth forced to live a lie to avoid family rejection, religious condemnation and governmental oppression. It includes prisoners incarcerated in corporately owned and operated facilities. Intervention means standing up to governmental efforts to erase from libraries, schools and public parks and monuments the stories of indigenous peoples murdered and driven from their homes, enslaved persons deprived of freedom and human dignity and the brutality experienced by child laborers, all in an effort to present a sanitized version of American history for public patriotic consumption. Such interventional ministry is not inconsistent with love for one’s country anymore than intervention in a loved one’s addictive behavior is contrary to genuine affection and concern.

Intervention might well meet with resistance. It is natural for people confronted with the consequences of their addictive behavior to become angry and defensive. It is natural for them to feel, initially at least, that they are being attacked and bullied. That is why persons involved with an intervention must be prepared to remain patient, avoid responding reflexively to insults and accusations and stick to the objective, namely, helping the persons subject to the intervention understand both their need and the willingness of the interveners to assist. Jesus warns his disciples that they can expect the world’s hostility to their ministry. “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.” The disciples have no reason to expect any better treatment than Jesus himself received from the world.  But as Jesus refused to give up on the world, so his disciples must continue in doing the works that Jesus did and in speaking not condemnation, but redemption for the world.

Finally, intervention may not work. For any number of reasons, a person might finally reject life saving assistance offered by loved ones. Interveners need to understand that, while they can offer support, assistance and care, they cannot “fix” a broken person. Ingrained habits, outlooks on life and ways of coping with stress are difficult to shake and seldom yield in the course of a single encounter. For that reason, it is important to anticipate failure and be prepared to persevere in speaking the truth in love, neither condemning the affected individual nor further enabling their self destructive conduct. The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news. But sometimes the good news must be experienced as bad news before it can be heard and understood as good.

In the same way, disciples of Jesus are not called to redeem the world. That is God’s role. They are called rather to bear witness before the world to God’s redemptive work by carrying on the works of Jesus in their lives together. God knows this world needs an intervention. This is a world careening toward the carnage of increasingly wide ranging and lethal war, economic disparity and ecological ruin. This is a world in which nations and national leaders exercise godlike power reducing to rubble whole communities. It is a world where governments incarcerate, abuse and deport refugees fleeing violence and starvation. Ours is a world where people and communities identifying as Christian espouse racist, misogynist, homophobic hate and nationalism. Nevertheless, it is the world God loved enough to send the beloved Son. Disciples of Jesus are to be an alternative community demonstrating a different way of being human. The church at its best is a disruptive presence, calling into question the values of a world drunk on power, addicted to unsustainable consumption and teetering on the brink of destruction through its own violence.

This uncomfortable work of intervention requires families to confront members caught up in the tangled swamp of lies emanating from crackpot Christianity, junk science and bizarre conspiracy nonsense. It requires pastors and bishops to preach Christ crucified in America’s detention centers, in the rubble left by American bombs and in the hungry, homeless and sick living in the shadow of obscene degrees of wealth. It requires those of us who have known only privilege, comfort and prosperity as Americans to open the eyes of our hearts to see the ones who daily pay the price for our relative wellbeing and work to dismantle the systemic injustice responsible for such disparity. This is work that is uncomfortable and dangerous. It can get you killed. But the God who loved this world enough to intervene asks nothing less of us.

Here is a poem by Sonia Sanchez that I believe expresses something of what it is like to be a living intervention in, against yet for the world.

Morning Song and Evening Walk

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Source: Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems (Beacon Press, 1999). Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver in 1934) is an American poet, writer and professor. She is a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement. Sanchez has written several books of poetry. She has also authored short stories, critical essays, plays and children’s books. She received Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 1993. In 2001 she was awarded the Robert Frost Medal for her contributions to American poetry. You can read more about Sonia Sanchez and sample more of her poetry at the Poetry Foundation website.

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 17:22-31

Psalm 66:8-20

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

Prayer of the Day: Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

“They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” John 14:21.

It is well known that some 80% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. It is also clear that evangelical leaders such as Rev. Franklin Graham, Rev. Douglas Willson, Ralph Reed openly and forcefully endorse the president and his agenda which, in turn, has come to shape the preaching, teaching and ministry of numerous evangelical churches. The fact remains, however, that 20% of white evangelicals did not vote for Donald Trump and that many of these believers are deeply troubled by the infiltration of his political priorities into the life of their congregations. Recently, the Christian Century has pondered the possibility that these evangelical refugees might find a home in the churches of mainline Christianity. Michelle Van Loon, a former evangelical, addresses this question in her article, “Four things mainline churches should know about ex-evangelicals.”[1]

Van Loon notes that 3% percent of Americans who have changed their religious affiliation in the last year now identify as mainline or nonevangelical Protestants. That is hardly a mass movement, but it is not insignificant either. Still, I am doubtful that defections from white evangelicalism represents for mainline churches like my own a “field white for harvest.” Like Van Loon, I was “a child of the Jesus movement that swept the country in the late 1960s and early ’70s.” Though I never parted company with my Lutheran tradition, I worshiped with “Jesus People” communities and attended meetings of Intervarsity and Campus Crusade for Christ. I was drawn to evangelicalism by its focus on a deep and personal relationship with Jesus, though again, like Van Loon, I could never point to a particular moment in my life where I “committed my life to Jesus.” Unfortunately, what I found lacking in my Lutheran church community back in my Jesus People days continues to be lacking.[2]

Complaints against evangelical megachurches made by their defectors can be made as readily against our mainline churches, e.g., too much emphasis on programming, politics and fund raising. Too little emphasis on cultivating personal faith and discipleship. As I have said elsewhere, what drew me toward evangelicalism in the first place is what finally led me away from it, namely, Jesus. I became convinced that following Jesus involved more than personal salvation for my own soul and renewal of my individual life-as important as these things clearly are. The Jesus I came to know from the preaching of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. James Cone; the writings of Gustavo Gutierez, Walter Bruggerman, John Douglas Hall and Stanley Hauerwas was ultimately too big for my evangelical faith. Nevertheless, I continue to count myself an evangelical in this sense, namely, that devotion to Jesus of Nazareth is the core of my faith and life. I believe that to be the core also for many who are parting company with their evangelical communities having their faith still intact.

Sadly, I cannot say with certainty that these refugees will recognize Jesus in the typical Lutheran congregation as the glue holding it together.[3] Van Loon points out that “Mainline denominations seem more focused on simply loving their neighbors, no strings attached. If there is a downside to this approach, it is that some mainliners go silent regarding why they’re serving others…” Does that really make any difference? I think it does. The love of which Jesus speaks is not the sort limited to national identity, tribal affiliation or congregational membership. According to our gospel lesson, love means keeping Jesus’ commandments, the principal ones being to love God with all one’s heart and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. And lest there be any mistake about it, the parable of the Good Samaritan makes clear that love for one’s neighbor knows no limit.

Furthermore, for Jesus love is not a strategy for some higher goal. It does not matter whether love for creation expressed in picking trash up on the beach makes a dent in the massive dumping to which our oceans are subject. It does not matter whether public witness for justice and peace move the needle of political machinery to that end. It does not matter whether the enemies we are called to love are moved by our love to change their hateful and aggressive ways. “What’s the use?” is not an excuse. Indeed, disciples of Jesus are called to practice the dictates of the Sermon on the Mount even when they seem to undermine what we believe to be worthy goals. For that reason, a community held together by nothing more than common objectives, however noble they might be, is not enough.

Though the co-option of evangelical leaders and many evangelical churches by the hateful ideologies of Christian nationalism is disheartening, evangelicalism is not altogether a lost cause. There are notable examples of evangelicals seeking to recover the centrality of Jesus for Christian faith. Rev. John Mark Comer has won a substantial following by challenging young people to disengage from the destructiveness of electronic and social media in order to focus on discipleship. Comer’s ministry and teaching is outlined in a recent article by Nancy Walecki in the Atlantic.[4] Comer looks to the life of Jesus as a countercultural way of regaining our humanity and maintaining our spiritual health in this digitalized twenty-first century. Inspired by the monastic order of Saint Benedict, Comer urges his audience to incorporate nine practices of Jesus into their lives. They consist of the following: daily reading of scripture, service to the larger community; keeping the sabbath by practicing solitude; prayer, fasting-which includes abstinence from digital devices, corporate worship, witness and generosity.

Comer’s critics characterize his writings and preaching as little more than self help mantras cloaked in biblical wrapping. While there are obviously parallels to be drawn with self help literature, Comer insists that the practices he encourages are rooted in those of historic Christianity. They are not intended to produce personal happiness, fulfillment or contentment. Rather, they are instruments through which the Holy Spirit forms one’s character into the image of Christ. By imitating Jesus, one becomes more like Jesus. That same sentiment has been central to Christian spirituality from the beginning,

Another example of Jesus centered spirituality is found in the “He Gets Us” movement “that invites all people to consider Jesus and why he matters.” Its mission consists of calling people to “show up in unexpected places and share a story about Jesus in a way that sparks curiosity and invites conversation.” The campaign ran several striking ads throughout the Superbowl this year. According to its website,

“He Gets Us is led by Come Near, a group of people moved to raise the public conversation about Jesus. The He Gets Us campaign is not affiliated with any single individual, political position, or faith denomination. Our creators, partners, and supporters represent a variety of faith journeys, lived experiences, and perspectives, all of which contribute to the work we have produced to date. We all share one common goal: to invite people to rethink their perception of Jesus and what he could mean for us today.”   

This evangelical approach represents a refreshing change from the all too common practice of telling people who Jesus is, why they need him and what will happen to them if they refuse to accept him as presented. It reflects rather the very biblical approach to evangelism expressed by Saint Philip who, in response to the skepticism concerning Jesus expressed by his friend Nathaniel, replied simply “come and see.” Isn’t that the only thing we really need to do?

The contribution made by evangelicalism to the life of the church is its emphasis on faith that is relational. At its best, the movement and the churches it has spawned remind us that discipleship is not about acceptance of dogma, but about trusting and following a person, namely, Jesus. Evangelicals remind us that the best and perhaps only evidence for the truth of the Resurrection is the fact that Jesus continues to draw people to himself from all quarters. We should be encouraged to discover that their ministries are reaching people outside the church, people who have left the church and people who have no interest in the church, drawing them into conversation about Jesus. I hope and pray that the same interest will awaken within my own and other mainline churchs where Jesus has too often been marginalized.  

Here is a poem by Countee Cullen about Simon Cyrene, the man who the gospels tell us was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus. The poem asks us to consider the source of that compulsion and speaks of the kind of faith that evangelicalism, at its best, seeks to recapture.

Simon the Cyrenian Speaks

Source: My Soul’s High Song: The Collected Writings of Countee Cullen, (edit. Gerald Early; c. 1990 by New York: Doubleday). Countee Cullen (1903-1986) was an American poet, novelist, children’s writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. It is known that he was born on May 30, 1903 to Elizabeth Thomas Lucas. Due to a lack of records from his childhood, however, his birthplace is unknown. At the age of fifteen, he was adopted by Reverend Frederick A. Cullen, pastor of Salem Methodist Episcopal Church, Harlem’s largest such congregation. Taking the name of his adoptive father, Cullen entered the DeWitt Clinton High School, then located in Hell’s Kitchen. There he excelled academically and started writing poetry. After graduating from high school, he attended New York University (NYU).  Cullen graduated from NYU in 1925 and then attended Harvard to pursue a masters in English. While there he published his first collection of poems.

The cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance marked a creative explosion of literature, art and music contributed by African-American writers, artists and musicians. Cullen was at the epicenter of this new-found surge in literature. By 1929 he had published four volumes of poetry. In addition to his own writing, Cullen promoted the work of other black writers to national publishers. From 1934 until the end of his life, he taught English, French and creative writing at Frederick Douglass Junior High School in New York City. You can read more about Countee Cullen and sample more of his poetry at the Poetry Foundation website.

[1] Van Loon, Michelle, “Four things mainline churches should know about ex-evangelicals,” Christian Century, (March 2026, Volume 143, Issue #3)

[2]  I have shared my own sojourn with evangelicalism in my article, Cosmic Christ and Confessions of a Former Evangelical.  

[3] I have shared previously an incident occurring toward the end of my ministry that illustrates the point. I attended a workshop sponsored by my church focusing on ways toward spiritual renewal for our congregations. For an hour and a half we engaged in exercises designed to stimulate conversation, discussion and strategizing for church growth. Toward the end of the meeting, one of the facilitators asked if we had any questions or comments about this proposed program. I raised my hand and asked the facilitator whether she was aware that not once during the entire process did the name of Jesus come up and whether that was inadvertent or intentional. (I thought about adding that I was not sure which answer would be the more disturbing). She did not have much of an answer. Another facilitator finally spoke up and said in a decidedly irritated tone, “I don’t think it is necessary to invoke the Trinity after every single paragraph.” (For the record, I do not recall any references to God the Father or the Holy Spirit either.)

[4] Walecki, Nancy, “Can Turning Off Your Computer Bring You Closer to God?” Atlantic, (May 2026).