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”
Category Archives: justice
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”
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)”
Righteousness in Complex Times
I have attempted to convert my sermon notes from yesterday into a sermon. By means of explanation, this sermon is part of a series our church is doing on the beatitudes, or the sermon where Jesus lists different groups of people who are blessed, although their lives are hard. We are using an accompanying children’sContinue reading “Righteousness in Complex Times”
A dead young man + an outpouring of rage = rules to limit public speech at city council meetings? A pastor’s response to city council
You may know the story of Alan Blueford, shot by police for the crime of running away and then falsely framed by his assailant (currently on paid suspension). You may know the story of his family and supporters taking over a city council meeting last night to demand an unredacted report about the shooting.Continue reading “A dead young man + an outpouring of rage = rules to limit public speech at city council meetings? A pastor’s response to city council”
Youtube videos I used at church camp (if you weren’t there, I swear they made more sense at the time)
Last week, I keynoted youth camp at Community of the Great Commission in the Sierras. Several youth wanted links to the videos I used at camp. Providing the links here does not mean I endorse every single word or image–sometimes the video was just used for effect. And I certainly don’t endorse the music ofContinue reading “Youtube videos I used at church camp (if you weren’t there, I swear they made more sense at the time)”
A refelction on the recent health care decision
I was recently asked to write a reflection on the Supreme Court decision about “Obamacare” (or PPACA) for the Young Clergy Women’s Project online journal. Here’s the link in case you’re interested: http://youngclergywomen.org/on-scotus-ppaca-and-other-acronyms/
Seeing God at the Oakland Army Base
There’s a heart, broken in two pieces. Written on it: “Family,” “Community,” “Workers.” And there was a moment on Tuesday, June 12, when those pieces came together—the heart was unbroken, or whole. To me, that was the heart of the faith engagement of the Revive Oakland! campaignfor good jobs at the former Oakland Army Base.
Sandhya Rani Jha 