Following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, in 2014, a new conversation to engage Disciples in advocacy surfaced a need for connection. The efforts to network for Standing Rock protests and other crisis led to the creation of Disciples Public Presence. Disciples Public Presence is a movement. After its beginnings in March […]
Read more2 Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. 3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will […]
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July 8, 2016 Dear Church, The nation is reeling from the shock of the violent loss of lives over the last three days, which has resulted in confusion and a sense of hopelessness. Our grief for the families of the victims, for many of us, is unbearable. “Thus says the Lord, ‘A voice is heard […]
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This blog entry originally appeared in TIME Ideas. Recently I posted a prayer. It was in response to the events in Baltimore: a young black man is mortally injured while in police custody. Citizens take to the streets. On the day of the funeral, the protests turn violent. My prayer was for all: those who […]
Read moreLent 2015 In the six months following the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed African American teenager, by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, many of us have struggled to understand what we see on television, in newspapers, and through social media and the internet. Not reported or highlighted, is the involvement of churches and […]
Read moreBoy, do I need Advent this year! I need a respite from the commercial “Christmas season” where the sacred and the secular collide and stay awkwardly entangled for weeks – where good will and generosity struggle with crass consumerism – where the birth of love into the world is reduced to “Jingle Bells”… My soul […]
Read moreWhat did you expect? by the Rev. Dr. Timothy James, administrative secretary of the National Convocation The grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed the unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. This decision brought to mind the death of Trayvon Martin afresh. As an African American […]
Read moreFor the better part of a week, the streets of Ferguson, Missouri have echoed with hopelessness, despair, grief and anger in reaction to the shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year old black man by white police officers. A fairly unknown suburb of St. Louis, Ferguson will now take its place in the ever lengthening […]
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