It’s interesting that the root of the Hebrew word salvation, yasha, literally means to be wide, to be open. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, in those streams of mercy never ceasing that call f… — Stan Dotson
Text: 1 Kings 18:20-39
29 May 2016
Circle of Mercy Congregation, Asheville NC
by Ken Sehested
A week ago I was coming up with ideas to share with Brian about music appropriate for today’s service. I sent a note to Larry Wilson who, as a life-long Mennonite pastor, would surely know the Mennonite hymnal and might have some Memorial Day music suggestions for worship.
Read more ›by Hillary Brownsmith
The Body of Christ has seen queer folks angry. That anger is warranted. The church as the purveyor of a lot of violence against the queer community should witness that anger and make efforts to understand it. But I think the church also needs to see queer folks in our grief for the loss we experienced when we learned that the church is rarely the safe space it should be. The church may not have earned our vulnerability but it needs to bear witness to our grief for there to be true reconciliation.
That being said, I want to share with you my personal story of grief and then, in the spirit of this month, I want to talk to you about pride.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
A decade or so ago I served on the board of an organization connecting the work of the several “welcoming and affirming” organizations within various denominations. At one meeting, as part of a self-assessment of the movement, one admitted that the “t” in “lgbt” was still not exactly welcomed at the table. The admission brought nods of acknowledgment around the room.
Going further back in time, partly for personal confession, when in the early ‘90s the Baptist Peace Fellowship board first began intentional conversation on questions of sexual orientation, an initial draft of a resolution used the word transgendered and I, among others, had never heard it before.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
Rev. Ken Sehested was asked to officiate at a covenant vow ceremony, for 12 same-sex couples, at the close of Asheville, North Carolina’s PrideFest on Saturday, 13 October 2007.
Greetings. On behalf of the organizers of today’s gay pride festival—and of these couples who now stand before you—welcome, each and every one, to the close of this festive parade.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
This article, written in May 1995 to interpret the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America’s “Statement on Justice and Sexual Orientation,” was first printed in the Spring/Summer 1995 issue of Baptist Peacemaker, the BPFNA's quarterly journal. An edited version of this article was reprinted in Walter Wink’s book, Homosexuality and Christian Faith: Questions of Conscience for the Churches, Fortress Press, 1999.
Culturally speaking, nothing seems to divide people more than the question of sexual orientation. At the center of this cultural wrestling match are the Christian churches. Much of the rationale for condemning homosexual behavior, even in secular institutions, is anchored in appeal to the Bible. Even the language of jurisprudence is affected by biblical tradition, with so-called “sodomy laws” criminalizing homosexual activity.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
It is with careless ease that we say, “Bless God, for all life is good,” when the sun shines during our outings, when no strain threatens our budget.
It’s easy, when life is blessed with children and our ancient ones live long and die in peace.
Read more ›by Ken Sehested
All of you with voices, sing out! All who lack melodic
tongue, raise the roof with joyful noise! If you have
hands, clap them. Feet, tap them. Fingers, snap them.
Let even your eyelids blink out praise to the One whose
delight drenches earth and every creature.
Signs of the Times • 20 May 2016 • No. 73
Editor’s note: My early faith formation training emphasized the urgency of “getting back to the early church” in resistance to encultured Christianity. Of course, what was never mentioned was the early church’s refusal—until the fourth century when Christianity became Rome’s official religion—to wield the sword in defense of the state.
We hope this special issue of “Signs of the Times” will provide needed ballast in the coming Memorial Day season when the altars of warriors’ lives are vested with redemptive national significance.
¶ Processional. “You have to learn how to die / If you want to want to be alive.” —Wilco, “War on War”
Ken Sehested
The overall theme for this retreat is “Fear Not! The nonviolent war cry of the people of God.” The admonition to “fear not”—don’t be afraid, be still, take courage, be of good cheer—is a constant one throughout Scripture. It is always spoken in the context of danger and dread, typically against overwhelming odds, when things look like they couldn’t get any worse.
The very first mention of God’s name in Scripture is uttered in the story in Exodus where the Hebrew people cry out because of the misery of their oppression. In the story of the calling of Moses, the text says “Then the Lord said, 'I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings. . . .' {Exodus 3:7} Shortly after that, Moses incredulously asks: “OK, so I’m supposed to go to Pharaoh and say “let my people go”? And just who exactly should I say is demanding this? Then the One whose name can never be spoken and never be tamed replies, “I am who I am,” or it can be translated “I will be who I will be.” [3:14. Karen Armstrong suggests it could also be rendered “Never mind who I am!”]
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