Last week, we began our series studying the book of Acts in the New Testament (written about 80s or 90s CE) that traces the story of the early church from Jesus’ heavenly ascent to well into Paul’s ministry. As Jon wrote about and shared last week, we are using scholar Willie James Jennings’s commentary on Acts as a significant pillar of our studies (he is so brilliant and also we are finding we need plenty of time to metabolize his work). Jennings understands the book of Acts to be a portrayal of revolution: the Spirit of God disrupting in the midst of empire and diaspora. One of the most sig ..read more

“I hope you are reading this while laying down!” ― Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto As children, we learn so much about work from watching our parents, guardians, and other adults in our lives. Many of the values they hold about work they teach us through school. I grew up under the care of a single parent working 40-60 hours a week in a community of fishers, foresters, and farmers. 9-5 jobs were for city people. We woke up with the sun and fed, milked, lifted, cut, hauled, moved, and operated until the moon was up.  You may already be familiar with the Nap Bishop, Tricia H ..read more

At Harbor we partner with two denominations, the UCC and the PC(USA). Both partners support us with grant money, coaching, resources, and more. For the last two years, I have been fortunate to be a part of the PC(USA)’s 1001 New Worshiping Community (NWC) cohort . The cohort is filled with other faith leaders reimagining faith gatherings across the United States. Folks are doing all types of creative expressions of worship. Once a year the cohort, which meets weekly on Zoom, gets together for a few days in person. This year the gathering was in New Orleans.  A word on hospitality from den ..read more

Eternal life or a good death? We are not here to build nests. The birds can do that. Rather, we are here to take our nests and make of them homes, vibrant with the qualities of kindness, order, and stability. We are not here to amass hoards. The ants can do that. Rather, we are here to take those stockpiles and release them into the energy of generosity and compassion. And we are not to live forever but to die well, releasing to the atmosphere courage, dignity, and trust. –Cynthia Bourgeault, from The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming an Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart Over the ..read more

At our Thursday Harbor gatherings, we are in the middle of a Lenten series called “The Wilderness of Faith: Hope and solidarity in Lent.” The first 3 weeks of our series were spent looking at the story of Hagar in Genesis 16 and 21 through the lens of womanist theology (more on womanist theology in Dawn’s blog post). Many of us were first introduced to Hagar as a side character, almost a disruption, to the main story of Abraham and Sarah. Patriarchal and colonial interpretations of Genesis 16 and 21 taught us that this is Abraham and Sarah’s story—Hagar is just a prop. Womanist theology, on th ..read more

This post is from a guest blogger, Harborista Jim Melson. Jim is founder and executive director of Cornelius Corps, an organization in Richmond, VA, committed to a shared journey of racial justice/reconciliation and spiritual formation. As we come to the end of this Black History Month, I want to remind us that Black history is American history, that the contribution of Black Americans goes far beyond the few names that are most well-known and popular among white Americans. With that in mind, I want to lift up the witness of Dr. Bernard Lafayette. His commitment to and practice of nonviolence ..read more

It’s not something you see every day: a burly, bearded man in his late 30s playing a superhero video game and crying like a baby. That was the scene here in Chicago recently as I worked my way through the epic Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from Insomnia Games. This beautiful installment allows you to play as both Peter Parker (if you’re familiar with the MCU movies, this is like a 25-year-old version of the Tom Holland webslinger) and Miles Morales (more or less the Miles from the incredible Spider-verse movies). The game’s main storyline brings you into conflict with many classic Spidey villains as b ..read more

A second deconstruction A few hours after this writing, I will be all made up and sitting in front of my computer to record a podcast episode with a friend to tell a story I haven’t really told before all in one go.  Almost thirty years ago now, I sensed a calling from God to become a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. I grew up Baptist but was drawn to Anglicanism in university. That was what I call my first deconstruction. I learned that the Bible as I had learned it was not the straightforward “God said it. That settles it,” that I had come to believe. There was history and huma ..read more

Have you ever felt so much despair or hopelessness that you truly don’t know where to go from there?  Recently, a friend of mine shared how overcome and overwhelmed she felt by the genocide happening in Gaza. She shared with me, “I am so sad. I cry everyday feeling so much helplessness with the genocide happening.” This conversation was so striking to me that I crafted a sermon around it (watch or listen here). The main question I wrestled with in the sermon was this: What do we do when the suffering of our world, our country, our neighborhood, and our own lives overcomes us? Where do we ..read more

It’s an interesting convergence for me: right now my partner and I are buying a house for the first time, and right now Harbor is studying the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life.” Oh, and also, “Do not worry about tomorrow.” At the time of this writing, tomorrow is the inspection of the house we’re buying. This doesn’t add up—and these are just the first-world problems of a cis straight white dude gainfully employed in late-stage capitalism. How can the words “Do not worry” land, even when they’re coming from Jesus, with folks around the world who are facin ..read more