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The Means of Grace: An Invitation to All

He opened our eyes to what we all knew but had forgotten: that prior to the Reformation, the Catholic Church had devalued the sermon in public worship; the Protestants, in their zeal for the recovery of the scripture, now in their own languages, made the sermon the new focus of public worship, and thereby relegated holy Communion to a secondary place, offering it only once a month, or even, in some cases, just four times a year.
November 11, 2024
Featured Articles
Featured

Loaded Language

Words are absorbent. Used often enough in partisan slogans or ad campaigns, or by certain religious groups or by "influencers" (itself a word with a troubling history), or spun into new usages by disaffected teens, they can be diverted from their broader purposes. They become contaminated by association or overdetermined by repetition, and so less usable for more neutral efforts to identify or describe. As words are turned into trademarks or code language, they become harder for speakers outside the…
Featured
October 28, 2024

Palestine and Israel: Come and See

My journey to Palestine and Israel began 20 years ago. A Palestinian Christian, Claudette Habesch, then the Secretary General of Caritas Jerusalem, spoke at a luncheon at our church. She described what life was like for her and other Palestinians who were living under the Israeli occupation—checkpoints, roadblocks, excessive use of military force, imprisonment, land confiscations, home demolitions—and especially its effect on Palestinian children. At the conclusion of her talk, I asked, “What can we do?” “Come and see,” she…
Featured
October 21, 2024

What I Learned from the Better Together Convening of Concerned Congregations

When I think about church ministry, I think about disaffiliation. At council meetings, we attend to the details of disaffiliation. When I gather with other pastors, we give updates on our disaffiliation process. If you’re a regular reader of the Reformed Journal, you’ve read quite a bit about Synodical decisions and disaffiliation over the last few months. None of this is what I originally wanted for myself or for the church, so I also get angry about disaffiliation and about…
Featured
October 14, 2024

Make Truth Great Again

We face significant barriers if we can’t agree on the fundamentals of knowledge. Perhaps when (and if) the lair of liars is removed from media’s mainstream and extracted from public consciousness, we could begin to talk to each other again. But it is also possible that the damage has already been done. We have built the permission structures to allow truth to lose its meaning. But as Christians we must be truth-tellers above all else. In so doing we can…
Featured
October 7, 2024

What Doesn’t Kill You

Liminal spaces stink. They just do. No matter how much you squint you can’t see through the fog. But the more you take care of yourself, the more gratitude you have for being alive for another day. The truth is life isn’t always about thriving, it’s often about surviving.
Featured
September 30, 2024

Living in Disconnection: Sin, Shame, Trauma, and Healing What’s Within

Exploring our wounds is not merely a therapeutic exercise. It’s a theological exercise. If disconnection is the essence of trauma, then we’re invited to explore what our own lives look like - and the shared life of our churches and communities – when lived within the traumatic conditions of our exile from Eden.
Featured
September 23, 2024

Jack

I’ve been ruminating lately on the rejections, absurdities, and moments of grace that could make someone a poet. What forces send a person into this difficult art, where anonymity is assured and financial reward all but nonexistent? How does the stuff of life become this particular craft?

Latest from the Blog

Daily blog by our regular bloggers & guest contributors.

  • Eyes Open
    Simone Weil saw attention as being fully present with a mystery and yet resisting the urge to solve it. 
    November 11, 2024 Kathryn Vilela
  • I’m Not Ok
    I'm not okay. And I’m giving myself permission not to be okay. 
    November 10, 2024 Kathryn Schoon-Tanis
  • Practicing Self-Care Post-Election
    I decided to use this week to set some firm boundaries around my news consumption and take extra good care of myself.
    November 9, 2024 Allison Vander Broek
  • Where Is Wisdom to Be Found?
    Wisdom is absent from Reformed theology. We don’t talk about it. I wonder why.
    November 8, 2024 Daniel Meeter
  • The Exhausting Business of Anger
    I want to use my anger to fight back. I want my anger to move me into action.
    November 7, 2024 Aemelia Tripp
  • What Just Happened?
    I’m not going to get what I want. Actually, I haven’t been getting what I want this whole election cycle. Climate change is an existential threat to humanity but neither candidate talks about it. Instead, they talk about whether or not immigrants are eating pets.
    November 6, 2024 Jeff Munroe
  • Barista King
    The Barista, still with grace-filled eyes, responded: “You are welcome here as long as you need.” 
    November 5, 2024 Chad Pierce
  • A Little Note and a Big Vote
    The vote ended in a tie: 48 to 48. The House voted to table for now. Initially the twenty-four year...
    November 4, 2024 Rebecca Koerselman

Poetry

Poetry
November 5, 2024

5th Commandment

Among the earliest of sins ...
Poetry
October 15, 2024

The Writer

Half-court. Dad said our perch from steep bleachers allowed us a good view of the players.
Poetry
October 8, 2024

Let the Party Begin

It's not always easy to carry good wishes and admiration in a see-through bag ...
Poetry
October 1, 2024

After the Thirteen Shock Treatment

I asked for two fried egg sandwiches and a blueberry milkshake. I got soup.
Poetry
September 17, 2024

What Depths I Pass Through Unknowing

Along our route to the sea laps low ...
Poetry
September 10, 2024

Setting Flagstones

First I place them in a line atop a narrow path along the side of the house ...

Latest Podcasts

Podcast
November 5, 2024

“5th Commandment” by James Ryan Lee

In this episode of the poetry edition of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews James Ryan Lee about his poem “5th commandment.” Lee received an M.F.A. from the University of California, Irvine, where he studied under poets James McMichael, and Michael Ryan. His poems have appeared in Aethlon, The Minnesota Review, Juked, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Ordained Servant and Christianity and Literature. Duke University Press republished a section of his poem, “Bee Suit: Spring Chores with Grandfather,” for National…
Podcast
October 15, 2024

“The Writer” by Olga Dugan

In this episode of the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Olga Dugan about her poem “The Writer.” Olga Dugan is a Cave Canem poet. Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, her award-winning poems appear in many literary journals and anthologies including Ekstasis, Spirit Fire Review, Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith, The Windhover, Agape Review, ONE ART, Litmosphere (forthcoming), The Write Launch, Ariel Chart, The Sunlight Press, Emerge, Kweli, Sky Island Journal, evolution: The Red Moon…
Podcast
October 1, 2024

“After the Thirteenth Shock Treatment” by Jack Ridl

In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Jack Ridl about his poem “After the Thirteenth Shock Treatment.” Ridl is an American poet and former professor of English at Hope College. He is the author of several collections of poetry, has published more than 300 poems in journals, and has work included in numerous anthologies. You can read the poem on at Reformed Journal.
Podcast
September 17, 2024

“What Depths I Pass Through Unknowing” by Katherine Indermaur

In this episode of the poetry edition of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews Katherine Indermaur about her poem “What Depths I Pass Through Unknowing.” Katherine is the author of I|I (Seneca Review Books), winner of the 2022 Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize and 2023 Colorado Prize for Poetry, and two chapbooks. She is an editor for Sugar House Review. Her writing has appeared in Black Warrior Review, Ecotone, Frontier Poetry, New Delta Review, Ninth Letter, the Normal School, and elsewhere. She lives in Fort Collins,…
Podcast
September 10, 2024

“Setting Flagstones” by Paul J. Willis

In this episode of the poetry edition of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews Paul J. Willis about his poem “Setting Flagstones.” Paul is Professor Emeritus of English at Westmont College and a former poet laureate of Santa Barbara, California. Paul has published eight collections of poetry and the most recent is entitled Losing Streak, which was published this year. You can read the poem at Reformed Journal.
Podcast
September 3, 2024

“God” by D.A. Cooper

In this episode of the poetry edition of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews D.A. Cooper about his poem “God.” Cooper is a husband and father of three children. He lives in Houston, Texas where he teaches political science and the Italian language at a local community college. He is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. You can read the poem at Reformed Journal.