Even in These 
Tumultuous Times
 

Even in these tumultuous times, God is with us. "God is under the rubble in Gaza." writes Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian pastor. "He is with the frightened and the refugees. He is in the operating room. This is our consolation. He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. If we want to pray, my prayer is that those who are suffering will feel this healing and comforting presence." This sermon by Rev. Isaac, linked below, is a powerful reminder that even when the world collapses on us and around us, God is with us. Also included below are other stories that turn the conventional religious wisdom of our day on its head.
 

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 three cohorts (one in the mountains of East Tennessee, one on the west side of Chicago, and one in Indianapolis) are now underway.

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

God is under the rubble in Gaza. He is with the frightened and the refugees. He is in the operating room. This is our consolation. He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. If we want to pray, my prayer is that those who are suffering will feel this healing and comforting presence. A sermon of lament and anger by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem  ( via Sojourners )

The Black Church Models a Different Conversation About ‘Gender Roles’. Debates about women’s roles in the church are back in the headlines, but a lot of them leave out a large and important group of American Christians: the Black church. Here, discussions about the place of women in Christianity don’t happen on white evangelicals’ terms. Black churches don’t use the same language or framework as white evangelicals, particularly concerning gender roles; the terminology of “egalitarian versus complementarian” is rarely used. Focusing only on how this discussion happens in predominantly white denominations misses the insights that the Black church can bring to conversations about women in the church.(via Christianity Today)