Bearings: Navigating Life-as-Ministry
March 2016

Women in Ministry

Is Social Media the Great Equalizer?

Jamye Wooten (). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, ChurchChange, DigitalMinistry.

I write this on the last day of Women’s History Month. Over on my Twitter account, I spent the month highlighting—via the hashtag #BlackChurchHERStory—African American women religious leaders alive today who have been trailblazers in ministry and in the academy. These pioneers range from the likes of Rev. Dr. Yvonne Delk, who in 1974 became the first African American... Read more

God is Not a Boy’s Name

Nicole Lamarche (). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, Bearings Review 2016, ChurchChange.

On the evening of our first dinner church gathering, my then three-year-old daughter sat on the sidewalk in front of our banner that read, “God is not a boy’s name.” The picture struck a chord and continues to circulate on social media, in part because she is a happy, adorable little girl and also because her presence along with those words offers a bold theological... Read more

Disunion of the State

Church, Community & New Power in Flint

Joshua Crutchfield (). Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMission.

Much has been written and said about the Flint Water Crisis. If you haven’t heard about it yet, here’s a brief summary: In 2011, following the collapse of the auto industry, the city of Flint, a predominantly working-class black community, went broke. Because of the dire financial impact the city was experiencing, Michigan governor Rick Snyder appointed a city... Read more

Re-Imagining Communion

Radical Listening and Making the Body Whole

Xochitl Alvizo (). Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, Bearings Review 2016.

I remember the words so clearly: “I know what it’s like to have my body broken, I know what it’s like to have my blood spilt. I won’t celebrate anyone else’s broken body or spilt blood, and I don’t want anyone doing that on my behalf.” Sitting in the pew next to me, my friend spoke her truth in a soft and tentative, but somehow still firm, voice. She then slumped... Read more

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