Interfaith conversations around some Jesus narratives, death and resurrection

In what is known as the Apostle’s Creed, a statement of belief developed to educate those who became converts to Christianity – but was then also used regularly in much of its liturgical worship – these basic statements are at its core:
Jesus was born, was crucified (under Pontius Pilate’s decree), died and went [...]

Health care is a human right

Below is a podcast (with videos!) of our recent Faith and Life Forum. Thanks to all the participants for the great questions, and to Dr. David Baltierra of PHYSICIANS FOR A NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM for coming out to be with us not once, but twice. His eloquence, knowledge and kindness, as you will see, are [...]

The Bible has everything to do with the here and now

By Don Prange
Published in the Loudoun Times-Mirror, October 7, 2009
How do I, as a Christian minister, contribute faithfully to our national conversation about health care?
After more than 50 years of ordained ministry, I find that my beliefs continue to shrink while my faith continues to expand and grow. This is especially true of [...]

A need for victims

You may have heard somewhere in the news recently about the Connecticut legislature considering a bill that would provide oversight of the financial and administrative affairs of the Catholic Church there, and the outrage that proposal has generated. The action by the lawmakers is being called unconstitutional, a grave violation of religious liberty, and an [...]

Finding Our Voices

…in Leesburg, Thursday March 19. The Rev. Graylan Hagler, Minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in D.C., is one of the voices of dissent featured in this documentary film. Members of St. James have been present since the spring of 2003 for monthly vigils to end the war in Iraq. Join us this [...]

Brokenhearted about God

I began the Bible as a hopeful, but indifferent, agnostic. I wished for a God, but I didn’t really care. I leave the Bible as a hopeless and angry agnostic. I’m brokenhearted about God.
These are the words of author David Plotz, discussing his project of blogging the Bible for Slate, Good Book: What I learned [...]

When you pray, move your feet

This Saturday we will be hosting a screening and discussion of The Asphalt Gospel, a film about Crosswalk America’s 2006 journey from Phoenix to Washington DC:
On Easter 2006, six ordinary people left their homes, jobs and families for a journey on foot into the heart of America. Their intention, as Crosswalk America, was to start [...]

To the Mountaintop

Published in the Loudoun Times-Mirror.

By Rev. Stephen Johnson
January 22, 2009
Sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Inauguration Day, I recalled a conversation I had at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last August with Ida Taylor of Carson, California, a volunteer who worked with me at the Convention.
I was walking [...]

The MLK speech we all should read

This speech by Dr. King is probably the least familiar to general audiences, but it is absolutely essential to understanding what he was calling us to as children of God. It is from a later version as a sermon, delivered April 30, that the quotation “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who [...]