Category: Stories

I’d like to introduce you to Lanecia Tinsley. This is our last devotional as part of our series featuring Black Theologians. She is a theologian but also an artist. Her story is beautiful and powerful. The video is a little longer than we usually share (14 min), but this video is worth your time. Allow it to speak to you and wash over you. 

More About Lanecia:

Lanecia Rouse Tinsley is a creative based in Houston, TX & her work includes photography, painting, mixed media, teaching, writing & speaking. Lanecia has a Bachelor of Arts, Sociology from Wofford College and a Master of Divinity from Duke University Divinity School. Studio D at Hardy & Nance Streets Studios is where her creativity often blooms. Most days you will find her there sipping on a cup of coffee with music playing as she creates work that reflects what life has revealed to her about healing, freedom, and beauty found in everyday experiences. Acrylics, pastels, charcoal, paper, and encaustic wax are my mediums of choice. Life has taught her that we all have creative potential and the need to encounter beauty. As an artist, she believes her call is to create opportunities for people to encounter beauty through the work of her hands & the spaces she cultivates for them to tap into their creativity. It is an absolute delight for her to create art that draws people into spaces of vulnerability, hope, complexity, and freedom.

Before I introduce you to one of my favorite female theologians, I want to invite you to participate in one of our many opportunities to repent, remember and contemplate on Ash Wednesday, February 14.

Next Wednesday morning, the Pastors will be giving ashes to our 300 children and 71 teachers at our two preschools in the morning Chapel services, and then in the evening, you are invited to our Ash Wednesday family experience with a potluck meal, prayer stations, and a shortened worship service starting at 7pm.

If you have a free hour during lunch, or you can’t make the evening service, I invite you to come to the Chapel from 12-1pm for a time of quiet meditation and the imposition of ashes. I will be offering ashes and a quiet place to pray and I would be honored to pray with you at the altar if you would like. Ash Wednesday is a full and holy day to experience God’s love and the reality of our own mortality and so I hope you will be able to participate with us next week.

Now on to the task at hand. A female theologian whom I have read from a lot over the last two years is the Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes, who frequently writes for the Center for Action and Contemplation. I have mentioned before how life giving the devotions on CAC (Center for Action and Contemplation) have been for me ever since they were introduced to me by my Spiritual Director. Now I read the daily devotions, prayers, poems, and I am drawn deeper on the journey of Contemplation. Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes writes many of these devotions and in early January, she considered the collective resilience needed in times of crisis. She writes:

“Where is your community hurting? Where can you be of help to that community? What resources and gifts do you possess that will enhance the healing of your own body and of your community? As a village, we have a sacred duty to respond to the crises of oppression and injustice. We have a responsibility to respond to the suffering of others around us. But first, we have to figure out who we are, how we’re going to show up, and how we’re going to work with others, our neighbors, in a communal response to crisis.”

I have to admit, I was really struck with the first question. Where is your/our community hurting? That question gave me pause and I had to really think it over. To know the hurting of our community, means we know, I mean really know, our community. It means that we have relationships with those we have affinity towards as well as those that don’t look, dress, vote or live like we do. That was how the early church grew and I am convinced it is how the Church of Jesus Christ today will grow as well. By really knowing the communities we find ourselves in and then meeting the needs of those who are hurting.

Maybe this will be a challenge for you to consider this Lenten season; to really look for the hurting in the spheres of influence you find yourself in. And then ask God to reveal the gifts and resources you might already have that can bring about some healing.

If you haven’t had a chance to read or listen to the Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes, she is quite an amazing woman. She is a spiritual teacher, activist and author who has many degrees including a Divinity and Law degree as well as a PhD and she is also one who over and over again in her life chooses to see joy in the midst of suffering. She has some good words for us in this short video if you have a few extra minutes to hear what breaks her heart and how she leans on God when she sees hurt in her community. I hope it is a blessing to you.

A Moment with Emmanuel Katongole: Delving Deeper into “A Glimpse at Communion”

As we continue our series on Black voices in theology, let us immerse ourselves in the teachings of Emmanuel Katongole, a beacon of theological insight and peacemaking. As an Associate Professor of Theology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Katongole’s life work intricately weaves the threads of his African heritage with his profound academic pursuits.

Katongole, a Catholic priest ordained by the Archdiocese of Kampala, has served as associate professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke University, where he was the founding co-director of the Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation.

He is the author of books on the Christian social imagination, the crisis of faith following the genocide in Rwanda, and Christian approaches to justice, peace, and reconciliation. His most recent book is The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa (Eerdmans, 2010).

In this video, Katongole extends an invitation to transcend the divisions that fragment our world. He challenges the notion that God’s love is confined by human constructs such as political affiliations, asserting that “God is neither Republican nor Democrat.” This profound assertion calls us to expand our vision and embrace a divine perspective transcending our earthly loyalties.

Katongole’s reflection on the fragmented nature of humanity is not one of despair but an acknowledgment of our shared condition. He sees in our brokenness an opportunity for God’s grace to weave us into a more cohesive whole. His poignant critique of our propensity to “throw rocks at one another” serves as a sobering reminder of the pettiness that often pervades human interactions.

Yet, it is in his meditation on love that Katongole’s message truly shines. “Love goes as far as God’s heart goes,” he reminds us, inviting us to partake in the boundless expanse of divine love. This vision of an all-encompassing love that makes room at the table for everyone, regardless of our differences, offers a glimpse of the kingdom of God in our midst.

As we reflect on Emmanuel Katongole’s life and teachings, let us be inspired to embody the principles of “A Glimpse at Communion” in our own lives. May his journey help us to bridge divides, heal wounds, and inspire a more inclusive and loving world.

In the spirit of Katongole’s expansive vision, may we, too, strive to create spaces in our lives where love knows no bounds, and where every soul finds a place at the table of communion.

As we continue inching closer toward Ash Wednesday (February 14th) and the season of Lent, we continue to learn and listen to the voices of those that may be new to us, at least this one is new to me. As your pastors and staff have been reading voices from those less famous in the realm of theology, I share a new name with you, the Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes. I watched a few of her videos from the Work of the People, but this one that we share below really resonated with me. Emilie Townes is the Dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School and is an ordained American Baptist clergywoman. She was born in Durham, North Carolina and has gone on to do and write and teach and preach about justice, women’s theology and Christian Ethics. She is a voice of grace and openness to the changing world around her and holds distinguishing positions serving as the president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion (2012–2016) and being the first African American woman elected to the presidential line of the American Academy of Religion, which she led in 2008.

The video below, called “Hoarding Love,” is well worth the seven and half minutes because it asks us some important questions about the cultural production of evil and what would remedy it as followers of Jesus.

As she was talking, I thought about my kids, and how they share and don’t share. Emmaline and Charlie are old enough now to share well. They don’t really fight any more about what is theirs and what isn’t, of course they have their moments and they argue like any siblings do. Our focus right now has been on trying to teach Ellie, our 18 month old how to begin to understand sharing. Of course an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex makes sharing difficult for young children and as loved ones we have to show young children both how to survive while also making socially acceptable choices. And as our children grow, we can teach them how to be safe and assertive with their needs. In our family we are walking this line. Ellie is very strong and very loud, so when she wants your toothbrush, or water bottle or snack, she will not only pull on it with all of her might but scream REALLY loud. Usually we all give into her because it is easier and we chuckle at her determination (knowing that it will serve her better, ONE day). But what happens if we continue acting like toddlers as we grow into adults? How can following Jesus teach us how sharing is caring and that there really is enough on this earth for all to have their needs met?

This video dives into that and asks us some deep questions. I hope it blesses you as it has blessed me.

As a pastor and someone who has studied the Bible, I am incredibly guilty of reading theologians only from my faith tradition and who also happen to, sadly, look like me.

Over the next few weeks until the end of February, we will be sharing the perspectives of various black theologians with you. This study is an opportunity for me to learn, expand, and grow, and I hope it will be the same for you.

Today, we will hear from Monica Coleman, a theologian and professor focusing on Womanist theology. Womanist theology is the study of God through the lens of Black females. these scholars often find kinship in their anti-sexist, antiracist, and anti-classist commitments to feminist and liberation theologies.

Monica A. Coleman is committed to connecting faith and social justice. The interdenominational preaching magazine The African American Pulpit named Coleman one of the “Top 20 to Watch” – The New Generation of Leading Clergy: Preachers under 40. An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Coleman has earned degrees at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate University. Coleman is currently Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions and Co-Director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology in southern California.

I haven’t had the opportunity to read any of Monica’s books yet, but I am excited to include her theological perspective in my reading and contemplation. Throughout this series, it’s possible that you may encounter ideas that are new to you or that you don’t necessarily agree with. However, that’s precisely the point. There is a vast array of theological ideas out there, and it’s crucial that we expose ourselves to them and allow them to challenge us, even if we don’t see eye to eye on everything.

Here are some books written by Monica if you would like to study further.

Below is a video by Monica Coleman about her views on God. I especially like her view that the phrase “God is love” may not be a big enough phrase. The concept is that God knows us even deeper than someone who just loves us; God knows us as someone who loves with us, Grieves with us, hurts with us, is God with us.

May your thoughts and hearts expand as you listen to more voices this month.I hope that during this upcoming month, you are able to listen to a variety of voices and perspectives, and that this experience helps you to broaden your understanding of the world around you. May your heart and mind be open to new ideas, and may you gain a deeper appreciation for the diversity of thoughts and opinions that exist in our world.