Author Archives: sandhyarjha

The Cross and the Lynching Tree—Atonement Theology and Beyond

Several people have expressed interest in my recent sermon about my concerns with atonement theology. Let me first say that I might never have preached this sermon if our church weren’t doing a sermon series on “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Bible But Were Afraid to Ask,” where congregants got to submitContinue reading “The Cross and the Lynching Tree—Atonement Theology and Beyond”

The weight of ministry (or “Atlas Shrugged….can we find a better solution?”)

I stand before you a reformed woman. I mean re-formed. As in, I am beginning to inhabit a new form or shape. One bowling ball less than two weeks ago, as the guy from the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead would say. I did a six-day juice cleanse and lost an alarming 13 pounds,Continue reading “The weight of ministry (or “Atlas Shrugged….can we find a better solution?”)”

Monsoon Wedding, my childhood, rape culture and no-go-tell.

I was inspired by the tremendous essay “My so-called ‘Post-Feminist’ Life in Arts and Letters” by writer Deborah Copaken Kogan. One of the many issues she touches on is not talking about sexual assault because we will get smeared. We’ve seen that in the Steubenville case and also in the recent suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons,Continue reading “Monsoon Wedding, my childhood, rape culture and no-go-tell.”

A Good Friday poem by Sandhya Jha and Tai Amri Spann-Wilson

Tai Amri and I had five minutes to preach on the “third word” at a Good Friday service yesterday. We co-created this poem, each taking a stanza and passing the growing work back and forth, over the course of an hour, in response to the following passage: John 19:25-27: Standing near the cross of JesusContinue reading “A Good Friday poem by Sandhya Jha and Tai Amri Spann-Wilson”

Malcolm, Martin, the Mahatma and a couple of Mary’s: A resurrection story

Malcolm, Martin, the Mahatma and a couple of Mary’s: A resurrection story Holy Saturday sermon By Sandhya Jha New Spirit Community Church, Berkeley, CA March 30, 2013 The Gospel : Mark 16:1-8 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go andContinue reading “Malcolm, Martin, the Mahatma and a couple of Mary’s: A resurrection story”

Consensus, my congregation, and a miracle in progress

“I can’t wait to tell my friends back home that I’m a Quaker missionary,” said my co-pastor at the end of the meeting. Born into the Friends tradition, he had just led us through a Spirit-based consensus model for decision making as the second half of our meeting to determine what our next steps togetherContinue reading “Consensus, my congregation, and a miracle in progress”

One straight Christian’s journey into Ally-hood (and a plea for ally-hood with people in the hood)

You may know the weird and sad story of my first college boyfriend. I don’t talk about this a ton, because it was a messy and complicated and deeply personal issue, and publicly I usually only talk about it in terms of how it shaped my commitment to gun safety. But the fact is, itContinue reading “One straight Christian’s journey into Ally-hood (and a plea for ally-hood with people in the hood)”

Who profits from violence in Oakland? Who bears the cost? (or: Oakland–the vomitorium of the American Empire)

My favorite game to play these days is “spot the end of the empire.” At the end of the Roman Empire (although the practice pre-dates that, according to one of my Greco-Roman scholar friends), wealthy Romans would eat until they were full, then throw up so they could continue to eat. The term for whereContinue reading “Who profits from violence in Oakland? Who bears the cost? (or: Oakland–the vomitorium of the American Empire)”

A meandering reflection on why I care about gun violence

I was born in a small village in England. I grew up in a suburban/rural area twenty minutes outside of Akron. In high school, I joke that I was the poorest kid in a VERY rich suburb 30 minutes outside of Chicago. I did not know people who had been shot. I did not knowContinue reading “A meandering reflection on why I care about gun violence”