The Forces Bearing Down on Our Church Bodies - A Deeper Life Together

The Forces Bearing Down on Our Church Bodies - A Deeper Life Together - 6 June 2022

Published: Mon, 06/06/22

Resources for A Deeper Life Together
in our Churches and Neighborhoods

Curated by The Englewood Review of Books

6 June 2022

The Forces Bearing Down on our Church Bodies

The last few weeks, since our last newsletter went out, have been heavy times. 21 people were killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and more public shootings have been in the news almost daily since then. We grieve for the lives lost, for the needless anxiety that teachers and students must bear daily. On top of that, the COVID pandemic persists and continues to wreak havoc in churches and across society at large. AND the epidemics of racism, social homogeneity, and isolation have not gone away and continue to plague both church and society. This week's newsletter explores these tragedies and what they mean for our churches. As we lament, may we also grow in our understanding and allow the Spirit to guide us forward toward the healing of our churches and our society.

Cultivating Communities works alongside cohorts of churches that in close-proximity to each other, providing resources and helping them discern what it might look like for their congregations and their places to flourish. Our first cohort (in the mountains of East Tennessee) is now underway, and our second (on the south and west side of Chicago) will be launching very soon.

(Learn more about our cohorts and the Cultivating Communities Learning Journey)

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The latest research on friendship in America — and why it matters Two years after George Floyd’s death in police custody sparked a racial reckoning nationwide, most white Americans continue to look only to other white Americans for the most personal forms of social support, according to a new survey from Public Religion Research Institute. Americans don’t just gravitate toward people who look like they do, according to this new research. They also seem to seek out close connections with people who share their political views and faith. (via The Conversation)

The pandemic and the future of theology: A conversation with Stanley Hauerwas A robust conversation with the renowned theologian about pandemic. Discussion circles around the question: what is the pandemic revealing about the church and what is the pandemic revealing to the church?
(via ABC Religion & Ethics)

Remembering the Baptist pastor, civil rights activist, and iconoclast, Will Campbell. June 3rd marked the anniversary of Campbell's death in 2013. The Center for Public Television has created a wonderful 1-hour documentary on Campbell, which is available to watch for free online and is a great introduction to his life and work. (via The Englewood Review of Books)

Meet the first minister of gun violence prevention. The Rev. Deanna Hollas urged Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations to host Guns to Gardens events at their churches, inviting — and sometimes incentivizing — gun owners to hand over their weapons to be turned into garden tools.
(via RNS) Click Here to read this article ...

- Lectionary Poetry -

truth
Gwendolyn Brooks

And if sun comes
How shall we greet him?
Shall we not dread him,
Shall we not fear him
After so lengthy a
Session with shade?

Though we have wept for him,
Though we have prayed
All through the night-years—
What if we wake one shimmering morning to
Hear the fierce hammering
Of his firm knuckles
Hard on the door?

Shall we not shudder?—
Shall we not flee
Into the shelter, the dear thick shelter
Of the familiar
Propitious haze?

Sweet is it, sweet is it
To sleep in the coolness
Of snug unawareness.

The dark hangs heavily
Over the eyes.

(Selected to accompany John 16:12-15,
one of this week's Lectionary Readings)

Read all the Lectionary Poetry
selections for this week...
from The Englewood Review of Books