Bil Aulenbach In my series about the church in the future, I discussed the power of working together with ecumenical and interfaith communities. Mutual cooperation can be a game-changer. Let me share an example. A young Vietnamese man came to our church and attended one of my classes. When he was growing up, religion was not a … Read more
In the New Testament, Armageddon is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “the last battle between good and evil before the Day of Judgment.” I’m not into eschatological conspiracy nonsense, but I see November 5, 2024, our Election Day, as a day when our country has its last battle between a democracy (good) and an … Read more
Julie asks, “Please comment on mandating the Ten Commandments in every schoolroom in Oklahoma.” I’m reminded of the saying, “Give some an inch, and they’ll take a mile.” Our present “unSupreme Court” seems to be hell-bent not only on destroying all the progress our country has made in the last fifty years but also opening … Read more
Here’s a question from Chris R.: “How do you hold on to hope or faith when the whole world and our country in particular seems to be falling apart?” I suspect about twenty million or so other folks are asking the same question. As a faith-based Follower, let me start with my faith, which I … Read more
I was born an Episcopalian (I was even a PK, or “preacher’s kid”), baptized an Episcopal Christian when I was three weeks old, and attended an Episcopal boys’ school, college, and seminary. I had no exposure to other religions until I went to a seminary in Berkeley. The Bay Area had eight other seminaries, so … Read more
In my last blog post, I alluded to a church of the future that is here and now. One example of this type of church (which is a concept, not a building) was founded by Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit Roman Catholic priest ordained in 1984. In 1986, he became the pastor of Dolores Mission … Read more
As a child in the 1930s, I loved reading Buck Rogers’s futuristic science fiction comic books (1929–67) about trips to the moon and outer space even though I knew they were pure fantasy. Today, they are realities. I suspect some of you when you finish reading this blog post will say, “This is pure fantasy!” … Read more
For the past thirty years, as a nonstipendiary Episcopal priest, I’ve been watching the institutional church’s demise, wondering if it will die or reform as part of the quiet Reformation the church is going through. What are some of the signs? The institutional church is badly fractured. When I came into the ministry in 1957, … Read more
Let’s look at the differences and similarities between cults and evangelicalism. I’ll start with two definitions from Merriam-Webster: Cult: a system or religion of veneration and/or devotion directed toward a particular figure or object held together by a dominant, often charismatic, individual or by the worship of an idol or some other object. Evangelical: teaching … Read more
In Sunday school, I learned about a white Jesus who never existed. In seminary, I learned about the “Christian Jesus.” Early in my ministry, I promoted this fictitious Jesus. In 1990, I heard about the Jesus Seminar, run by Westar Institute, which involved over two hundred scholars from many different fields (e.g., Old and New … Read more