The Practice Church Podcast
In this recurring series, we are walking in the story of scripture, noticing the intricate way God’s story is woven together and shines a light on our own stories. Last year we began our journey walking in (Genesis 1-11), (Genesis 12-50), , , and the . If you missed the previous series, you can check out the links above. In this series, we will explore the period of the kings from Saul through the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Judah. We will notice how the stories of these kings echo all the way back to the garden. How do the Israelites and their kings respond to that choice to...
info_outline A Counter-Formational Political Practice: The ExamenThe Practice Church Podcast
This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice of the Examen, we consider our political activity (the media we consume and our response, our conversations, the ways we serve our communities, and voting) and ask when our activity was centered on the partisan liturgies of our culture and when they were centered on the radical alternative of God's kingdom.
info_outline The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of TribalismThe Practice Church Podcast
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...
info_outline A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Breath PrayerThe Practice Church Podcast
This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice, we respond to the partisan liturgy of fear with the practice of breath prayer. With Jesus, we pray the words, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” This prayer reminds us, in the words of Pastor Mike Lueken, even if the worst we can imagine happens in this election season, “Jesus is still king. The kingdom is still real, and all shall be well.” And it reminds us that we are invited to join the...
info_outline A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Welcoming PrayerThe Practice Church Podcast
This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In response to our partisan culture which uses fear as a political tool, we offer a practice that can help us welcome the love and presence of Jesus into our fear so that we might be the kind of people whose political activity is marked by love.
info_outline The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of FearThe Practice Church Podcast
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...
info_outline The Liturgy of Politics: Crafting our experimentsThe Practice Church Podcast
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...
info_outline The Communion of Saints: Thomas KellyThe Practice Church Podcast
From the very beginning of The Practice, we have always appreciated the important lessons we can learn from various Christian traditions throughout the history of the Church. This summer, we will spend time learning about our sisters and brothers, some you may know and others you may not. We hope to not only learn about them, but also to listen to what they might have to teach us in this day and age. This week, Ted Harro invited us to listen to an imagined letter to our community from the Quaker mystic Thomas Kelly. For additional resources, please visit our . If The Practice...
info_outline The Communion of Saints: Ella BakerThe Practice Church Podcast
From the very beginning of The Practice, we have always appreciated the important lessons we can learn from various Christian traditions throughout the history of the Church. This summer, we will spend time learning about our sisters and brothers, some you may know and others you may not. We hope to not only learn about them, but also to listen to what they might have to teach us in this day and age. This week, Juliet Liu invited us consider the example of Ella Baker. In her life and work, Ella might show us how our contemplation to move us to action. She would teach us to take...
info_outline The Communion of Saints: Harriet TubmanThe Practice Church Podcast
From the very beginning of The Practice, we have always appreciated the important lessons we can learn from various Christian traditions throughout the history of the Church. This summer, we will spend time learning about our sisters and brothers, some you may know and others you may not. We hope to not only learn about them, but also to listen to what they might have to teach us in this day and age. This week, Julian Davis Reid guided us in a reflection on the life of Harriet Tubman. He asked how we might follow Harriet as she followed Jesus, and invited us to consider two specific...
info_outlineOur formation is never for our own benefit alone. It is always for the sake of the world. Trevor Hudson has said, “The kingdom of God is creation healed.” This month we ask how is each of us being invited to partner with God in that healing. Whether we know exactly where God is inviting us or we have no idea at all, it is our hope this experiment will help us gain clarity on how our formation is leading us to partner with God for the sake of the world.
This week, Troy Jackson from the ministry Undivided invited us to consider how we might open ourselves to allow the groans of creation to move from our heads to our heart and into our gut. (A note about the practice: this was a communal practice that does not translate well to a podcast, but we would strongly encourage you to find a way to practice it with someone. It was a deeply meaningful practice.)
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