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6 Months (and Counting) Without In Person Worship
After participating in corporate worship weekly or more often for all of my life, I’ve now gone six months without doing so as a result of COVID-19. Both of the congregations I belong to continue to...
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Most Have Not Returned to In Person Worship
On Sunday I posted the following question on Facebook: When did you last attend an in person worship service? Responses I was surprised this post received nearly 250 comments. 116 people sharing when...
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In Person Worship: Worship Capacity in the UCC
In recent months I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of images of empty sanctuaries or other sacred spaces used for worship shared on social media. And, I’ve seen nearly as many images with just a few...
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Consistently Progressive Christians Outnumber Consistently Conservative...
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons devotes an entire chapter in his timely new book – Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity (Broadleaf Books, 2020) – to explaining that consistently progressive or...
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The Critical Issue of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way most people live, including the way many worship. COVID-19: USA The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States since the onset of the pandemic now exceeds...
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Top 10 Memories of 2020
2020 has been quite a year! When the year started I’d never heard of COVID-19 and rarely used words and phrases that are now commonplace: contact tracing, essential workers, quarantine, pandemic,...
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Top 20 Posts (All Time)
Since launching So What Faith in 2009, I’ve written more than 1,900 posts about matters of faith that matter. Based on page views, my all time most popular posts (as of December 28, 2020) are Prayers...
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Staying Home, Staying Warm
Some assumptions go unspoken. For example, I had always assumed it would be safe (and even wise) to leave my house and to interact with other people every day. That assumption was challenged almost a...
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Giving Up the Church I Always Knew
For the last fifteen or so years I’ve focused on approaching life, ministry, and the life of faith from a both/and perspective rather than the either/or framework that was normative in my earlier...
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Giving Up Mainline Protestantism
For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciples that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent. My Christian Identity For all of...
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First Indoor Worship Service in a Year
Last Sunday I attended my first in person worship service in over a year. For that outdoor service at First Presbyterian Church (Fort Worth, TX) I sat masked in a socially distanced chair with fewer...
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Giving Up the Output Oriented Church
I’ve spent my entire life in church. More specifically, I’ve been a part of a dozen congregations affiliated with a group of denominations most continue to label Mainline Protestant (for more on my...
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Giving Up the Tech Averse Church
For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciplines that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent. Slow to Change I remember...
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Giving Up the Old and White Church
I’ve spent my entire life in congregations affiliated with Mainline Protestant denominations. For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciplines that...
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Reopening for In Person Worship: 5 Congregations
Over the last four weeks I’ve visited five mainline Protestant congregations in the Dallas – Fort Worth metro area that have recently reopened for worship. All five experiences required that I...
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New Beginnings at First Presbyterian (Fort Worth)
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) has been a part of the Fort Worth community for 148 years. Originally established in 1873, this urban congregation moved to its current location in 1956. Like many...
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Pandemic Regathering: 8 Experiences
When I first learned about COVID-19, I had no idea what to expect. In March 2020 when in person gatherings of all kind were discontinued, I never imagined it would be more than a year before I would...
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Giving Up the Church I Always Knew
For the last fifteen or so years I’ve focused on approaching life, ministry, and the life of faith from a both/and perspective rather than the either/or framework that was normative in my earlier...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Giving Up Mainline Protestantism
For Lent, I’m giving up something big: the church I always knew. And, unlike past Lenten disciples that ended on Easter, this change is one I expect to be permanent. My Christian Identity For all of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First Indoor Worship Service in a Year
Last Sunday I attended my first in person worship service in over a year. For that outdoor service at First Presbyterian Church (Fort Worth, TX) I sat masked in a socially distanced chair with fewer...
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