Looking to the Margins

"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong,” wrote the apostle Paul in the first letter to the church in Corinth. People on the margins of our congregations, neighborhoods, and faith traditions often have much to teach our churches. Part of the work of cultivating communities is creating spaces and friendships where the voices on the margins can be heard and honored. This issue of our newsletter features several stories from the margins. They challenge us to tune our eyes and ears to the people on the margins of our communities.

Cultivating Communities works alongside cohorts of churches that are 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 this fall.

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

On religious appropriation...  Religious combining is not only common, but also encouraged as a way to engage religious practice without having to submit to religious institutions, hierarchies, and doctrines. It is a method to get the spiritual benefits of religions without losing individual autonomy. What is spiritual but not religious if not a commitment to borrow religious practices while remaining an outsider to religious communities, a situation ripe for appropriation?  (via Religion & Politics) 
Click Here to read this article by Liz Bucar ...