Pastor Charles Choe is lead pastor at Tapestry LA, a downtown Los Angeles church serving a mainly Korean and Chinese American congregation. He was the guest Monday during “Challenges, Transitions and Opportunities in the Second Generation Asian American Church,” a 90-minute webinar offered by the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.
As he began to talk exclusively with unchurched people, Dr. Tom Bagley heard the same thing again and again from people who were spiritually curious about God and faith: They wanted nothing to do with the church because of its hypocrisy, judgmentalism and exclusivity.
The daughter of a church member texted, late one Friday night, to say that her dad’s physical health was fading fast. He had been placed on hospice, and she was concerned about how much more time he had. She told me that she had become his round-the-clock nurse/caregiver, and she was grateful to be able to do that. Earlier in the week I had offered to drive to her house (about 60 miles) to visit them. She indicated that she now wanted to take me up on my offer.
Gun violence is an issue that divides our nation, our political parties and our churches. Whenever there is an incident of gun violence, whether it be an accident or a mass shooting, people always return to the same debate: gun rights versus gun control.
I have never used the praying hands emoji as much as I have the past two years. I serve as a chaplain in a city trauma center, so I pray a lot. But the COVID-19 pandemic provoked more need for prayer than I have ever felt before; thus, the use of the praying hands emoji increased as the pandemic continued.
Experiencing prayer with Ukrainian immigrants in Spokane, Washington, was so powerful recently for the Rev. Sheryl Kinder-Pyle that she felt compelled to share her experience with others.
The Rev. Emily Schwenker suggested practices for activists to engage in for their own spiritual health during last year’s Presbyterians for Earth Care conference.
After telling the 450 or so people attending the Synod of Lakes and Prairies’ Synod School that they’re co-creators with God and, as John Calvin once said, “little manifestations of God’s glory,” the Rev. Dr. Jill Duffield proved her point by asking participants to use their cellphones to take first a selfie and then a photo of the people seated around them.
