Progressive, affirming, questing in Warrnambool, Victoria
Words for the closing of a church. (Listen.)
Once upon a time, nearly eight years ago, some of us did something very foolish. A bunch of people who had mostly drifted away from church or were burned by church or had been rejected by church bumped into a quirky minister on holiday, and wondered if they might try again. Continue reading “John | Farewell Sanctuary, my beautiful beloveds”
Maybe God isn’t an angry absentee landlord, and maybe the wicked, lazy, worthless bloke isn’t the slave at all. A provocative retelling of the parable of the talents. (Listen.)
Who profits? Who pays? For many years, these words were daubed in bright yellow paint on a wall near my old house; I read them every time I walked past. Gradually they sunk in, until they became the fundamental questions I bring to everything. The news. A sermon. A theological position. A decision. And, of course, any reading of the Bible. Continue reading “Matthew | The billionaire, the stockbroker and the storyteller”
We will find Christ among foolish bridesmaids and other outcasts. (Listen.)
Come on, girls, you’ve been working since dawn and it’s only midnight—how dare you sleep? Wake up! Be alert, bright as a button; anticipate your master’s every need. You have more oil? Don’t you dare share, you know it’s a limited good. And stop fretting about your foolish sisters turned away from the banquet. Continue reading “Matthew | Five foolish bridesmaids, embraced”
In the face of sin, death and injustice, we are called to walk in newness of life. (Listen.)
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
With these words, the poet Wendell Berry describes a way of life that, simply by being born in this time and place, we have all been trained to desire. Continue reading “Romans | Practice resurrection”
Safe and provocative. Formal but still chill. Comforting and challenging. A spirit of gentleness. A witness to diversity. Open to possibilities. Room for doubt. A place for growth, encompassed by love. What wonderful phrases you came up with on Sunday to describe your experience of Sanctuary. Continue reading “Ephesians | Slow reading | The nature of church”
If you want to encounter the Risen Christ, don’t gaze into heaven! Just look around. (Listen.)
There he was, living and walking and eating among us. There he was, hanging on a cross. And there he was, among us once again and explaining the scriptures and breaking bread. And then he simply … disappeared. Continue reading “Acts | Just look around”
As an ordained minister, I get asked funny questions on forms sometimes. This is one of them, and this is my response.
Homosexuals in the church? A wonderful idea! There should be many more, and there could be if we showed even the basic respect of getting our nomenclature right. I don’t know anybody who calls themselves homosexual. It’s largely considered an offensive term, only used by people outside the community. The people in our congregation call themselves ‘gay’, ‘queer’, ‘bi’, ‘trans’, ‘non-binary’ or ‘allies’; as a group, they are members of the LGBTIQA+ community (and Sanctuary). Continue reading “IDAHOBIT | “Please state your convictions regarding homosexuals in the church””
God-stories are always anchored to particular places. So what are our God-stories, and how can they charge the landscape? (Listen.)
Once upon a time, our ancestor Jacob went on a journey. He left the place called Beer-sheba and came to the place called Luz. It had been a long day on the road; it was now twilight. The first stars were becoming visible in the darkling sky. So he took one of the stones of that place, a flat stone, a smooth stone, and brushed off the dirt; then he used it as a pillow. He wrapped himself tightly in his traveling cloak, and drifted into a deep, God-filled sleep. While he was dreaming, he saw a stairway reaching from that place all the way to heaven, and God’s messengers were moving between heaven and earth. Continue reading “Genesis | ‘Surely God is in this place!’”
God is not seen in a violent man, but in a woman known for her love. (Listen.)
Like so many women, I know what it is to receive unwanted attention and even assault. The comments about my breasts in primary school and, later, the wolf whistles; the propositions. The unsought gawkings and strokings and gropings. The encounters where consent was murky at best. And given what so many of my sisters have experienced, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Continue reading “Hosea | Gomer, the face of God”
“In the beginning was the Word …” It’s such a familiar phrase, many of us have stopped already paying attention. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we think, we know Jesus is the Word, let’s move on. But today I’d like to pause and focus on the word logos. Continue reading “Slow reading: In the beginning, the conversation”
Sanctuary 