For the second Sunday of Advent, Hayley reflects on the beauty of slowing down and the gift of the tender mercy of God. (Art: Jesus Offering the Light, 2004, by Jyoti Sahi) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/dona…

A big financial update on our church (it’s good news!) and a time for questions about the financial side of running our church. All are welcome to listen, whether you consider yourself a stakeholder in BLC or you're just curious how this church does "family conversations". Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechu…

A panel from BLC's Solidarity Team invite the whole church to build more communal bonds. (Photo: Tim Dennell, via Flickr) NOVEMBER FINANCIAL BOARD LETTER → http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate htt…

For the Sunday before American election week, Vince offers some final odds and ends, with the hope to meet some of the various needs people in our community may feel: encouragement, comfort, hope, a fire lit under us, a fire put out in us before it consumes us, or maybe just some learning. (Image by Element5 Digital on Unsplash) Join our live chat!…

“And who is my neighbor?” Led by the work of Kaitlin Curtice, Hayley discusses how an indigenous vision of kinship can help us navigate the 2024 election season. (Art: Alanah Jewell) Living Resistance book study sign up → http://brownlinechurch.org/small-groups Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/conn…

Hayley and Vince continue our series of messages for election season 2024, discussing how democracy needs healthy religion, visiting the Hebrew Bible's book of 1 Kings, and imagining how to live as a "hopeful skeptic" beyond the binary of cynic or optimist. (Art: woodcut by Kreg Yingst) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http:…

Did you know there's an election coming up? For our first election season message, Vince brings us to maybe THE Jesus teaching from the Sermon on the Mount: Love your enemies. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/d…

Vince reflects on the Biblical story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10, as he shares some stories from his Sabbatical. (Art: Mary and Martha, by He Qi, 2014) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/donate…

To wrap up our series on Embracing Beliefs, Carri shares about their experience as a hospital chaplain. Hayley and Carri discuss the sacred nature of carrying grief and witnessing beauty. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownline…

Carol joins Hayley as they talk about God’s faithfulness in Carol’s life. How does the steadiness of a loving God guide us as we navigate inevitable pain and loss? Financial Board Letter http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownline…

Brad joins Hayley as they discuss the way mystery calls us beyond ourselves. How does experiencing love, beauty, and community shape us and help us live more meaningful lives? Financial Board Letter http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http…

Teel joins Hayley as they discuss the role of music in community and spirituality. How do we hold things loosely when it comes to our view of worship? Financial Board Letter http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/re…

Hayley introduces our series of summer messages on embracing beliefs. What beliefs have shaped your understanding of God and community? How can our beliefs contribute to goodness in the world? Financial Board Letter http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/conne…

Vince doesn't have any pithy, Instagram-ready one-liners for us this week, but he does have some pastoral encouragements for the summer before he's off on Sabbatical. Financial Board Letter http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownl…

Hayley and Vince tell stories about the value of being rooted in an open community and the power of rituals in everyday life. (Image from @scotthepainter) Financial Board Letter http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.or…

Our celebration with some personal stories and a brief message on how churches embracing Pride today can find a powerful Biblical parallel in the early church's embrace of the Gentiles (Art: Peter in the house of Cornelius, by Gustave Doré, 19th century) FINANCIAL BOARD LETTER 2024: http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! h…

What does it look like to have pictures of fathering that are rooted in tenderness instead of power and control? How can this tenderness then inform our view of God? Hayley reflects on what it means to call God Abba Father. FINANCIAL BOARD LETTER 2024: http://brownlinechurch.org/board-letter-2024 Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New h…

Vince shares one of his biggest personal lessons in solidarity, and brings our theme “from charity to solidarity” to a close by talking about a very important challenge to making that mindset shift: guilt.Di Vince Brackett

What's the distinct help that prayer offers to the building of a solidarity economy that works for all of the 99% of people who have to work for a living, and not just a few at the top? Hayley and Vince discuss through the lens of the Church Calendar's celebration of Pentecost. (Icon Art by Kelly Latimore) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNX…

Like Jesus, we can be thoughtful about what images we let (and don't let) form our personal images of God. In our current moment of global war crimes, mass economic exploitation, and collective deconstruction of versions of faith that no longer work for people, we need mothering images of God more than ever before. (Mosaic: Jesus as Mother Hen -- D…

The usual way Americans interpret Jesus' parables is surprisingly weird. Continuing our series "From Charity to Solidarity", Vince explains with a look at Jesus' Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from Matthew 19-20. (Illustration by Lauren Rolwing for The Southeast Center For Cooperative Development) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJ…

Hayley and Vince dig deeper on how a solidarity mindset is distinct from a charity mindset, with a focus on the role and promise of community. (Illustration by Lauren Rolwing for The Southeast Center For Cooperative Development) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechu…

Join our church in dreaming together this spring about a more profound, more connecting, more sustainable way to address economic suffering and struggle in our country. Vince sets the table for this ongoing project teaching us about the God of Solidarity, who calls us toward the same mindset. (Illustration by Lauren Rolwing for The Southeast Center…

Jumping off of our community's discussions and comments over the last couple months, Hayley reflects on our Lenten practice of trying to give up unhelpful and incomplete beliefs. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.or…

Easter's celebration of Resurrection isn't about elevating Jesus above all, like an authoritarian emperor. It's a vision of hope and justice to lift up ALL people, that begins with Jesus, and moves forward by the power of persuasion, not force. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources htt…

Our church's tradition on Palm Sunday, beginning Holy Week's re-telling of the last days of Jesus' life, is to talk about the Cross. This year, Vince talks about the way Jesus' death on the Cross can help free us from cycles of revenge and retribution, and encourages us to give up the popular American belief known as Penal Substitutionary Atonement…

Does Christianity have to be the only game in town for it to be anything worthwhile? Or can Christianity be a distinct, important contribution to the world — worth giving your life to — AND other world religions also have truthful, ultimate things to offer the world too? Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurc…

The idea of "eternal conscious torment" disgusts, and even traumatizes, many. Unfortunately, it feels like it is synonymous with Christianity, even though it is (gasp!) not in the Bible! Hayley and Vince point us toward alternative Christian beliefs about eternity and morality. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownli…

Our wider culture's good response to self-punishing versions of religion is to focus instead on self-care. Hayley highlights the helpfulness of that, and yet also wonders if it is incomplete, before suggesting an alternative aim we might make our goal, from deep in the Jesus tradition. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http:/…

Hayley and Vince kick off the Lenten season sharing several ways BLC hopes to help you (and your friends/family/roommates) live with intentionality and meaning over the next 40 days, without feeling exhausted or burdened. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org…

We tie up various loose ends and respond to some outstanding questions after leaning into the discomfort of talking about suffering for the last month. (Art: "Sorrowing Old Man At Eternity's Gate" by Van Gogh) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources D…

A natural response to suffering in church settings is: “I’ll pray for you.” Which is great! But it can also lead to disappointment, or even (dare we say it) embarrassment. How can prayer to alleviate suffering be an important and deep part of our lives and communities? Are there popular beliefs about prayer we need to unlearn? Join our live chat! h…

What is it behind the most inspiring stories we know of people embracing suffering? Vince wonders if it's a certain kind of perspective that's hard for modern Western people to learn. But it still can be! (Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http:…

Vince & Hayley respond to a grab bag of questions about suffering and the tension of alleviating vs embracing. (Image from the Center for Action & Contemplation) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/donate…

For MLK Day weekend, we continue our look at the tension of alleviating suffering and embracing suffering for a good, full life, learning from some of Dr. King's 1967 speeches. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/…

That is the question! Vince reflects personally and intellectually on how a good, full life seems to involve BOTH a commitment to alleviating suffering AND an embrace of the inevitability of suffering. What do we do with that? How does one hold that tension? Jesus' life and ministry offer needed insights.Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJS…

Hayley brings us to the provocative, beautiful suggestion from 13th century mystic Meister Eckhart that we are all called to be mothers who give birth to God -- bringing God's Spirit into the uprootedness of life, into the most unfathomable of circumstances. (Art by @osageandfern) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brow…

Vince asks questions about poverty, exploitation, and perceiving God's Spirit as we turn again to Matthew's Christmas story about the confrontation between Herod and the Magi. (Art: "Herod greeting the three magi" by Rolf Nesch, 1922) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownl…

For the second Sunday of Advent, we visit again Mary's Magnificat -- the song of longing and revolution that formed Jesus in the womb. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/donate…

Where is God when we feel stuck or trapped? For the first Sunday of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we look at Isaiah 9, a traditional Advent passage, with help from womanist theologian Monica Coleman. (Art: Isaiah 9 by Amy Lindahl) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources…

Instead of a message this week, we have our annual update on the financial and business side of running BLC. Plus, we're celebrating our community's 10 year birthday! (Image from Hamid Roshaan on Unsplash) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donat…

Through the lens of the Nap Ministry's Tricia Hersey and her book "Rest is Resistance", Hayley continues our church's discussion of how to address societal burnout. (Illustration by Kumé Pather) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://br…

The forces of acceleration behind our societal burnout are experienced as guilt by the middle class, and as injustice by the working class. Vince points us to the Bible's Zacchaeus to help us imagine how communities can counter this "tyranny of acceleration" by holding up alternative visions of fullness of life. Scholar Sources to learn more Charle…

Two friends of Vince, in different helper professions, join us to continue our discussion of societal burnout (Cartoon by Bruce Mackinnon) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/connect Resources http://brownlinechurch.org/resources Donate http://brownlinechurch.org/donate…

The most natural response to burnout in our culture, according to scholars of the Modern World, is a good response in many ways, but, alas, it can't save us from busyness. Vince explains, and point us to Jesus' alternative vision of a good life that isn't busyness. SCHOLAR SOURCES FOR THIS SERIES Charles Taylor https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.p…

Burnout is not a problem with fringe individuals; burnout is a societal problem. How did we get here? And how can we, together in community, address societal burnout, rather than demand individual heroic effort to overcome it? What does Jesus have to offer us in this? And how might BLC help us stay open to that? Links to sources for this series Cha…

Is there any wisdom that is more across-the-board applicable than forgiveness? — to both interpersonal and societal struggles? — to both small slights and major abuse? There might not be! For our part 2 on "conflict resolution", Vince explores Jesus' teaching on forgiveness, as explained by Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mbpo Tutu in "The Book of Fo…

Vince & Keziah tell on themselves to surface various nuggets and insights on conflict resolution that have helped them over their 15 years of marriage, and highlight what a difference-maker it is to actually living those things out when you feel seen by a God of Love. (Image by jean wimmerlin on Unsplash) Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJ…

We Modern people like to maintain the image of our minds being a locked-down, private space, but, when we let our guards down, we often feel a call away from closed self-sufficiency. Maybe our minds are more mysterious than we assume, and we'd welcome a flashlight and some outside input. This week, Vince teaches us about Listening Prayer. (Photo by…

For our shortened end-of-August service, Vince reminds us that a full life stops to mark transitions (like the turning of the academic calendar) rather than speeds through them. He leads us in a blessing over the back to school transition from author Kate Bowler. Join our live chat! https://discord.gg/MNXJSM8 New here? http://brownlinechurch.org/co…