Progressive Christians

I've often found that the most vital churches are the places that do Lent the best. They're the places that don't shy away from acknowledging the messiness of the spiritual life.

Unquestionably, there is a dark, fundamentalist side to American evangelicalism. They plot to use their political influence to push the U.S. in a theocratic direction. If they could. The thing is, they can't.

I recently enjoyed a coffeehouse get-together with Gareth Higgins, founder of the Wild Goose Festival. He had been kind enough to ask to meet with me by way of extending to me an invitation to speak at Wild Goose 2012.

"Green Church" is a wake up call and challenge for Christians of all stripes to set aside their petty doctrinal differences in order to reclaim our original mandate: to care for creation.

Not that the evangelical old guard hasn't served others, but we are seeing a seismic shift in emphasis to one where it's all about translating belief into righteous action on behalf of others.

Please keep in mind that I do not think that everyone need be one, but that there is a growing number of people who yearn for a drastically different approach to being the Body of Christ.

The Houston Chronicle reports that a progressive Christian group in Houston, the Houston Clergy Council, has issued a letter criticizing Governor Rick...

Jesus doesn't show us a God who is harsh, punishing, aloof, and vindictive. He presents a God possessed of qualities directly contrary to those, a God who loves as God alone can: absolutely, unconditionally, unmitigatedly, freely.

If marriage is good for society, and equality is the ethical basis for marriage, then gender difference is irrelevant. Marriage equality is good for everyone, including Bible believing Christians.

The story of Jesus might have been different if Joseph and Mary had been sent back to Israel from Egypt because they were considered "undocumented workers," or worse, "illegal aliens."

God is not a force who acts on the world through coercion, violence or the suspension of physics and free will. God is a verb, an action we bring to the world to make love, justice, mercy, joy and goodness known.

I argue for a progressive Christianity that extends the meaning and mission of Jesus into the present and future, rather than promoting an obsession with the past.

We want the world to know we're out there: Christians who prefer peace and social justice over political capital. Christians who don't measure self-worth by whether we're able to convince you to see things our way.

Oftentimes pastors face great criticism for striving on behalf of the LGBT community, risking their comfortable careers and livelihoods: pastors can be thrown out of their churches or they can endanger their professional status. So why do we do it?