Liz Cooledge Jenkins

Tag: power & authority

  • The (Not-So-Secret?) Secrets of Hillsong

    Hi friends, Did anyone else watch The Secrets of Hillsong documentary series recently? I did, and I have a few thoughts. I’d love to hear yours too if you watched it—whether they’re similar to mine or quite different! I don’t know if “enjoyed” is quite the right word, but I certainly found the documentary morbidly…

  • No really, you don’t have to stay

    Hi friends, This week I’d like to direct your attention to a recent blog post by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes. I read this a few days ago, and it has stuck with me. Dr. Chanequa compares the logic of those who try to tell people they should keep going to church with the logic of those…

  • Peace to be fearless

    Hi friends, This Easter week has me thinking about what most of Jesus’ disciples did, as recorded in John’s gospel, right after Jesus’ resurrection. Just that morning, Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty and then saw the risen Jesus (looking a lot like a gardener; John 20:11-18). And now the disciples have gone and locked…

  • On Palm Sunday (a poem)

    Hi friends, Reflecting on Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey greeted by crowds crying “Hosanna!” (meaning “Save us!”), I wrote a poem about some of the things we might need salvation from (and for). If you connect with any of it, or have something you’d like to add, I’d love to…

  • Coming soon(-ish): Nice Churchy Patriarchy

    Hi friends, I wanted to make sure you all know that my first book, tentatively titled Nice Churchy Patriarchy, is coming out sometime in the next few months. I’ve poured my heart and soul and mind (and seminary training) into it over the last three years, and I’m so excited to finally (almost) be able…

  • Advent prayer: Favor

    A poem/prayer on the theme “favor.” Perhaps a loaded word depending on the church-y circles you may have been in. I’m wrestling with that here, as well as more generally what favor could mean in an unjust world. Favor God, I don’t want the kind of favor where I have more and someone else has…

  • Advent prayer: Wisdom

    Continuing with the theme of “Advent poem/prayers from 2021 that I’m still feeling”… The word for this one is “wisdom.” Wisdom God, There is wisdom in our souls, deep down. There is so much we don’t know. We carry some wisdom and we need other humans for the rest. We need the whole of creation…

  • 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 part 2: The Will to Change (bell hooks)

    This is part 2 (of 2) of some reflections on bell hooks’ The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Here’s part 1 if you missed it or want a refresher.  The Will to Change was also very much on my mind as I was writing this essay, posted yesterday at Feminism & Religion: The…

  • Super chill book review part 1: The Will to Change (bell hooks)

    I started reflecting on bell hooks’ The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (Washington Square Press, 2004), and it got kind of long. So, here’s part 1!  In all the “super chill book reviews” I’ve done so far (and I believe I’ve done twenty now in total—check ‘em out here if you like), I…