As the young, lithe, graceful and seemingly grace-filled dancers circled, held hands, bent and raised and swayed their bodies, individually and communally lifted their arms and pranced their joy or crumbled and undulated their despair, ancient tunes and plaintive songs, Sephardic Judeo-Spanish “Ladino” phrases and rhythms and rousing and mournful solo violin and Ashkenazi klezmer…
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A central task of the priest. I use the gerund (remember them?) to suggest that pastoring is something that priests do, not just a role that they play. Lots about pastoring this week. “A pastor at heart,” Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong died last Monday at 90. Bob Smietana of Religion News Service has a…
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The gifts of hardness, of coldness, of barrier, of rigidity, of intransigence are the most difficult to see, let alone appreciate. Our Church as an institution, in fact, has been presenting them to us throughout the ages, and in doing so may have given us a most generous bequest: something against which we can react,…
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Nineteen terrorists gave Americans a new Holy Day of remembrance twenty years ago today. Perhaps the many observances are too much for you; no need to read this one, in that case. Every program I hear on the radio asks the commentators where they were that morning, so I’ll ask you to think of your…
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If you have not signed up for, or accessed online, NCR’s marvelous Earthbeat series, billed as “stories of climate crisis, faith and action”, please do so. The postings are brief but rich and varied; the suggested actions inspiring and, even better, manageable!  Beginning September 1 and continuing through October 4, authors, Brenna Davis and Michael…
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Britney Spears is not someone I have paid much attention to over the years, so I was brought up short by Renee Roden’s Religion News Service article, published in NCR: “The trajectory of Spears’ career and public persona can be understood, some experts on evangelicalism argue, through the rise and decline of the evangelical purity…
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[Editors’ note: Anne Tropeano is a 2020 awardee of the Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship. This is the second of three in a series of reflections from our 2020 awardees on how the scholarship impacted their journey over the academic year. WOC will also be hosting a “Meet Fr. Anne” Zoom event on Thursday, September 2,…
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[Editors’ note: Claire Hitchins is a 2020 awardee of the Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship. This is the first of three in a series of reflections from our 2020 awardees on how the scholarship impacted their journey over the academic year.]  “My soul magnifies the Lord!” So begins Mary of Nazareth’s revolutionary song of praise, prompted…
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You know what it’s like when you return from vacation: a huge pile of mail. One magazine cover leapt out to me: “Prayer and Power,” with a photo of Paula Clark, “the first Black and first Episcopal Bishop of Chicago, on building a truly inclusive ministry.” My welcome home! I am always thrilled when our…
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As soon as I saw the title Crossroads, I knew this was an exhibit I had to see. We are at so many “crossroads” now: locally, nationally, internationally – in providing healthcare, aid, protection, political, social, and moral actions – in sorting out who we are and how we relate to each other and our…
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