Liz Cooledge Jenkins

Tag: church

  • Out there on the web: asking for what we need, and Christians with questions

    Hi friends, there have been a couple additions to the “out there on the web” category of things since I last posted an update. I Didn’t Know How to Ask (Or What Would Have Happened if I Had) (Guest blog for Rose Madrid Swetman) This is a guest post as part of Rose’s series on…

  • Super chill book review: Atlas of the Heart (Brene Brown)

    Given how long it took to get a copy—that is, one of 114 copies—of Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart (Random House 2021) from the local library system, I’m going to venture a guess that rather a lot of people are reading it or have read it recently.  (Also, it’s a TV series? I haven’t…

  • On wealth, poverty, and caring without being overwhelmed (reflections on Luke 16:19-31)

    16:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and…

  • Switch those seats (reflections on Luke 14:1,7-14)

    On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do…

  • The body of Christ as spiritual fellowship

    This is sermon part 3 of 3! In it I offer some thoughts on spiritual fellowship. (Here are the first two parts, on shelter and nurture.) There are also a few brief general reflections at the end.  __ I don’t know if the words “spiritual fellowship” are words that most of us say on a…

  • The body of Christ as nurture

    This is part 2 of a sermon split into 3 parts. (The first one is here if you missed it.) The scripture passage is 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, and the theme is “shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the people of God.” This is the part reflecting on nurture: I think nurture, like shelter, can also be kind of a weird…

  • The body of Christ as shelter

    Two Sundays ago I got to preach at my church, Lake B, for the first time in person. The video is here if you’re interested in watching rather than reading it. I was struck by how different it is to preach in person as opposed to recording a sermon online. Among a supportive community, it’s…

  • Super chill book review part 2: Jesus and John Wayne (Kristin Kobes Du Mez)

    Back with part 2 of a super chill book review for Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne. (Part 1 is chillin over here.) A few more thoughts and quotes: 5. I appreciated Du Mez’s reflections on the blurring between the evangelical mainstream and (extra-conservative extra-patriarchal) margins. This quote made sense to me, and…

  • Lament Wall Prayer

    At the beginning of Lent, a team of people from my church put up an amazing “Lament Wall” in the courtyard. People were invited to write down prayers and laments on pieces of paper and stick them in the cracks of the wall. Prayers written during church services were stuck in there, joined later by…

  • Super chill book review: Red Lip Theology (Candice Marie Benbow)

    Candice Marie Benbow’s new book Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough (Convergent 2022) strikes me as a combination of memoir, Black feminist manifesto, ode to Benbow’s mother, and work of theological deconstruction and reconstruction. Or something like that. I’m here for it.…