Writing
Writing
Selected essays and reflections from more than a decade of writing on the church, public witness, and the work of repair.
Embedded Files
A Pastor In The Portland Uprising
A Pastor In The Portland Uprising
Published in Ecclesio
September 1, 2020
Three days after the last time I was tear-gassed my eyeballs still feel sandy sometimes when I blink. My nostrils still sting slightly, like I cut a jalapeño and carelessly rubbed my nose an hour ago. Gear sits in my laundry room, a bike helmet, ski goggles, masks, a reflective vest, a white tab clergy collar, which I warn my family against handling because I don’t want them getting a small contact dose of whatever noxious plumes of white, green, and orange smoke I was standing in. I’m looking up how best to clean some of this gear before it’s time to don it again and head back into the street for another round.
Dressing For A Funeral
Dressing For A Funeral
With Abby Mohaupt · Published in Sojourners
Mar 2, 2017
It’s time to dress for a funeral.
That’s what Joel told the priests and farmers of ancient Israel. They had turned to their prophets for a hopeful word about the future, and Joel replied, “Actually, it’s worse than you think.”
Those words are ours today as we look at the reality of global climate change. The years ahead of us will be the most challenging our species has ever faced. For many of the other species that share this planet with us — and for some of our own people — it will be too much to survive.
The loss of biodiversity will be staggering. In 2015, The Guardian reported that one-in-six species will go extinct by the end of the century if emissions continue at their current rate. Even now, the tiny nation of Kiribati is facing total flooding of its 33 islands because of ocean level rise, attributed to melting ice. The people living there, in the middle of the ocean, will have no fresh water to drink.
Dressing for a funeral doesn’t begin to prepare our hearts for this kind of devastation.
More Essays
More Essays
& Articles
& Articles
The Passionate Mainline
The Passionate Mainline
Published on Rachel Held Evans' blog
"When Rachel posted her article 15 Reasons Why I Left Church I was one of those silly mainliners in the comment threads presuming to solve all of her problems by inviting her to attend my church..."
Stepping Out of the River
Stepping Out of the River
Published on the Sherwood United Methodist Church blog
"None of the churches that Paul founded were still in existence by the time Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and Christian Basilicas began being built everywhere..."
Ballad of the Merry Folx
Ballad of the Merry Folx
Published on the Sherwood United Methodist Church blog
"What if a pastor from Sherwood wrote and directed a musical about Robin Hood? That’s what’s happening this summer. I’ve created the 'Ballad of the Merry Folx'"
Our Climate Salvation Will Be Collective
Our Climate Salvation Will Be Collective
With Abby Mohaupt · Published in Sojourners
Apr 25, 2017
In the face of the loss and upheaval ahead of us due to climate change, it would be quite easy to give up, or not respond at all. If things are inevitably going to be bad, there’s not much we can do. And it is bad. The likelihood of record-high global temperatures and rapidly melting ice caps, steadily-increasing numbers of climate refugees, and less access to clean drinking water does, and should, frighten us.
If we manage to resist apathy, a potential response could be to turn to individual action. We might start recycling, bicycling, being vegan, or giving up plastic bags … all good actions for one person to take on to care for creation.
But that will not be enough.
Don't Let The Stones Cry Out In Your Place
Don't Let The Stones Cry Out In Your Place
With Abby Mohaupt · Published in Unbound
October 27, 2016
There is no debate about climate change.
We’re not talking about the fact that the scientific consensus is overwhelming (though that’s true). We’re talking about the fact that climate change wasn’t the subject of a single question during the presidential debates. Our political discourse right now is deafeningly silent about the gravest danger facing our entire species.
This is a silence that must be broken. And if this election season has taught us anything about climate change, it’s that neither major presidential candidate sees it as a political priority. Which means it is up to the church to start making some noise.
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