Sometimes the idea comes as a sudden epiphany, whole cloth and gift-wrapped. It was mid-summer 2020. We were four months into a pandemic that had shut everything down. The quiet of city streets, empty of people and vehicles, stood in stark contrast to the mayhem of lives turned upside down. And it was evident from…
The Civil Rights Movement and its Young Leaders
As Black History Month comes to a close, Lecturer in Theology and Ethics Dr. Derek Woodard-Lehman examines parallels between the American Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, believing them to be informative for continued racial justice work today. Julian Bond often summarized the average American’s understanding of the Civil Rights Movement…
Shrinking Before the Mystery of Death
In preparation for Ash Wednesday, the Rev. Erik Hoeke offers reflections on the importance of facing our own mortality. In the United Methodist liturgy for a service of death and resurrection, the opening prayer asks God to “give to us now your grace, that as we shrink before the mystery of death, we may see…