Theologian and Pastor who thinks out loud.
Photo by Miguel Ángel García
Within Protestant Christian circles, interest in spiritual pilgrimage has grown significantly in recent years. For many years this practice had mostly been left to Catholic Christians. Protestants have always made journeys to the Holy Land or significant churches within their tradition. But now Protestants are beginning to rediscover the rich language and practice of pilgrimage that makes these trips significant opportunities for spiritual formation. [Read more…]
Photo Courtesy of Hagerstown Community College
Dear Student,
You are leaving this place for new adventures and new responsibilities. Some of that is exciting and some of it is scary. Some of it is just unknown.
But you can be certain of one thing. The relationships that have been so meaningful for you while you have been here are about to change radically. [Read more…]
Traditionally, the day before Easter is known as “Holy Saturday.” It’s one of the few times of the year when there are no liturgical colors on the altar. It is one of just two days of the year (Good Friday and Holy Saturday) that the Catholic Church does not say Mass.
The Lantz Center for Christian Vocation and Formation is one of the programs of great depth in the Christian faith at the University of Indianapolis. UIndy, as we refer to the university, is not a “Christian university” in the way that many persons think of them. We don’t require chapel or a commitment to Christianity to attend. But we have always been affiliated with the United Methodist Church and its predecessor denominations and we take seriously our opportunity and responsibility to prepare our students (United Methodist and otherwise) for religious leadership. In the Lantz Center we do that by way of a two year program in ecumenical spiritual formation, where we teach prayer practices, study a theology of vocation and the place of God’s call in the students’ lives, and we form a small covenanted community of followers of the Way. The students that go through the program are of the minority of students that grow deeply in the Christian faith while in college, even while so many are walking away from their religious commitments.
The recent World Vision flip-flop fiasco reveals a strikingly sad reality: many conservative evangelicals have become 21st Century Pharisees.
It was a hot June day in 2011. My wife and I had been parents for just four days.
Dr. Jeremiah Gibbs 