Sometimes demographics just don’t fit denominational goals. Sometimes the local way of life works against the imposed model of church. Sometimes the flaws in the context undermine engagement.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/12/featured-alaska-la.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2018-12-10 18:53:172018-12-10 18:53:17Ministry from North to South
We connected via email to begin a conversation where I was the student and she was the teacher. I told her I wanted to learn from her “un-churched” experience.
The first image that comes to mind when hearing “the Pacific Coast” is one of Beach-Boy-sunny-shores, surfers, bikini-clad sunbathers, and children building sand castles. But there is so much more.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/12/featured-los-ranchos.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2018-12-04 20:42:392018-12-04 20:42:39Ministry on the Pacific Coast
An artist in Tennessee named Cheryl Prose makes art pieces corresponding to #MeToo stories that move her. She began with stories of friends, and came across my story in Sojourners. Since then she read my memoir, and this piece is based on the memoir.
My assailant was someone I had been in a relationship with which is why I never reported it. Who would have believed me? I wasn’t sure I believed it myself.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/11/featured-phone-call.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2018-11-19 06:48:592018-11-16 14:03:15It Was a Sunday
Listen:
most days I don’t think about the men who betrayed me
the men who saw the line and crossed it
the men who watched them do it
the men who told me to be quiet.
I asked him question after question about what he was doing in seminary, what he believed about God. After a while I went in for the big question: “How do you know that there is a God? What if God doesn’t exist?” As I cried, he made his move.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/11/featured-angry.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2018-11-11 20:47:362018-11-11 20:49:09Anger That Saved Me
The more fundamental reason I did not want to write or preach this sermon is because I felt too close to it. My father survived sexual assault as a child and he did not remember it until he was in his 50s.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2018/11/featured-shannon-preaching.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2018-11-07 06:33:412018-11-06 15:17:12The Sermon I Tried Not To Preach
Ministry from North to South
/0 Comments/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzSometimes demographics just don’t fit denominational goals. Sometimes the local way of life works against the imposed model of church. Sometimes the flaws in the context undermine engagement.
Unexpected Learning
/0 Comments/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzWe connected via email to begin a conversation where I was the student and she was the teacher. I told her I wanted to learn from her “un-churched” experience.
Ministry on the Pacific Coast
/0 Comments/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzThe first image that comes to mind when hearing “the Pacific Coast” is one of Beach-Boy-sunny-shores, surfers, bikini-clad sunbathers, and children building sand castles. But there is so much more.
Art Giving Voice to #MeToo
/0 Comments/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzAn artist in Tennessee named Cheryl Prose makes art pieces corresponding to #MeToo stories that move her. She began with stories of friends, and came across my story in Sojourners. Since then she read my memoir, and this piece is based on the memoir.
It Was a Sunday
/0 Comments/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzMy assailant was someone I had been in a relationship with which is why I never reported it. Who would have believed me? I wasn’t sure I believed it myself.
Bodies. Trauma. Resilience.
/0 Comments/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzListen:
most days I don’t think about the men who betrayed me
the men who saw the line and crossed it
the men who watched them do it
the men who told me to be quiet.
Anger That Saved Me
/1 Comment/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzI asked him question after question about what he was doing in seminary, what he believed about God. After a while I went in for the big question: “How do you know that there is a God? What if God doesn’t exist?” As I cried, he made his move.
The Sermon I Tried Not To Preach
/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzThe more fundamental reason I did not want to write or preach this sermon is because I felt too close to it. My father survived sexual assault as a child and he did not remember it until he was in his 50s.
I’m Cursing Now
/in Contemporary Culture /by Linda KurtzI haven’t thought of this in decades.
Black Congregations Matter
/in Contemporary Culture, Leadership, Presbyterian Church USA /by Linda KurtzThe African American experience can be seen through the lens of five ‘Ps’: property, problems, performers, purchasers, and paranoia.