By Rev. Dr. Ronald J. Allen

Part of a minister’s calling is to try to find points at which the Year and the table of readings bring preacher and congregation into real conversation regarding our deepest beliefs concerning God and the world, as well as to critique points at which the Christian Year and the lectionary obfuscate theological reflection. At just this point, of course, we encounter one of the continuing evidences of Pentecost: whether through Christian Year and lectionary or some other means, the Spirit persistently seeks to lure us to deeper recognition of the divine presence and purposes.

By Rev. Dr. Rebecca Pugh Brown

Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for April

By Rev. Dr. Keith A. Russell

Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for May

By Rev. Dr. David Lee Jones

Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for June

By Dr. Cheryl Bridges John

Tarrying involves waiting before the Lord in anticipation of Divine intervention. To tarry is to plunge into that tension between the times, the tension between the “already” and the “not yet.” It involves actively attending to the presence of God, yet patiently waiting for that mysterious biblical event known as “the fullness of time.”

By Rev. Dr. Keith Russell

What would happen to our Easter pulpits if we simply sought to roll the stone away so that people could confront the forces of death in their own lives? Do we dare challenge the principalities and powers of our age with the implications of a God who is both present in life and who lives beyond the boundaries of death?

By Keith A. Russell

Beginning with the third Sunday of February and going through the month of March, the church enters the Lenten season. The challenges to the preaching during the Lenten season are several. First, we need to overcome the tendency to equate Lent with personal self-denial as in “what are you giving up” for Lent. Secondly, we need to examine our own needs as we move toward the Holy Week/Easter period. Can we help other to experience something fresh about God? Can we deepen our hunger for the reign of God? Can we focus our need away from consuming to searching or desiring in such a way to reflect the psalmist’s plea “that as a hart longs for cooling waters, so my soul long for God.”?

By Megan L. Stivison

Quotations that deal with Globalization

By Luis Rivera-Pagan
Migration and xenophobia are serious social quandaries. But they also convey urgent challenges to the ethical sensitivity of religious people and all persons of good will. The first step we need to take is to perceive this issue from the perspective of the immigrants, to pay cordial (that is, deep from our hearts) attention to their stories of suffering, hope, courage, resistance, ingenuity, and, as so frequently happens in the deserts of the Southwest, death.

By Keith A. Russell

We are certainly impacted by globalization as was dramatically demonstrated in the recent economic collapse both here and around the world. Do we or can we also have an impact on the reality of globalization. How does this global reality affect our preaching and teaching? Hopefully we can become more informed about this complicated world view and begin to understand the implications it presents from the simplest sermon on stewardship to the more complicated focus on community building and loving our neighbor.

By Keith A. Russell

Epiphany of the Lord, Baptism of the Lord, Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Third Sunday after Epiphany, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

By Marian E. Ronan

From The Christmas Cycle to the Beginning of Lent: The Last Sunday of the Christmas Cycle, Transfiguration of our Lord, The Easter Cycle – Lent, First Sunday in Lent, Second Sunday in Lent