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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — At Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal M.I. Riveras de Cupey, a new movement of lay formation and empowerment is taking root. The congregation has developed a ministry and preaching school designed to train leaders who, because of financial or academic barriers, have never had access to formal seminary education.
Amy Peeler is part of a movement calling us to bring our whole selves to scripture. As a white woman, her perspective offers insight while also urging her to learn from others. She reminds us that both the wounds and the gifts of our identities shape how we read and find comfort in God’s word.
Reading the Bible closely raises questions shaped by our race, class, gender, culture, and more. Recognizing how culture—including White culture—influences interpretation helps us learn from others and see our own blind spots.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — In the heart of Puerto Nuevo, a Presbyterian congregation has taken a bold step toward inclusion and renewal by opening the pulpit to laywomen—recognizing their calls, their voices, and their leadership in the life of the church.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
This is a guide to Advent and Christmas worship planning resources from our website and our ministry partners' websites.
In a world generically “spiritual,” how does a preacher tend to the highest calling of the pastoral life: the tending of souls?
You’re probably familiar with expository and narrative sermons. Homiletics professor and author Sunggu A. Yang offers another preaching method: intra-dynamic preaching. He explains how “infusing the sacred art of preaching with the vibrant energy of the arts” can lead worshipers to unexpected moments in which God encounters and changes them.
Explore the sometimes overlooked but vital roles women play in the parables of Jesus.
Often the task of preaching falls on the senior pastor or a few gifted speakers. However, congregations need diverse diets and voices to be nourished and equipped by the preaching of God’s word.
Mark 4:34 claims Jesus never said anything to the crowds without using parables.
