Posts

Reading Making Paper Cranes: Toward an Asian American Feminist Theology by Mihee Kim-Kort A Decade Later

As I was reading Making Paper Cranes by Rev. Mihee Kim-Kort, I found myself feeling simultaneously exposed and held by her analysis and critique of the “both and” world that Asian-American women live in. I regret that until this past month I have never read or been given a recommendation on a book solely based […]

Commemorating 1619: On Naming Slavery in Worship

The act of worshipping together as a community—of being not just in physical proximity, but spiritual proximity—sometimes feels like a miracle. As a pastor responsible for planning and leading worship, I have a deep appreciation for the perils and pitfalls that come with asking a group of people to pray together, sing together, worship together. […]

#ReadFewerWhiteDudes

Two years ago, my good friend from seminary, Casey Kloehn, wrote this blog post inviting others to join in her reading challenge to #readfewerwhitedudes. It was one of those Holy Spirit moments, where her post and invitation came just as I was coming to grips with being told how white my reading list was. When […]

I’m Still Here: A Review

Austin Channing Brown’s I’m Still Here:  Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness was released this year and I commend it to you. Brown’s memoir is essential reading. Especially Christians who are white and living in the United States will benefit from listening to Brown’s wisdom and perspective as a woman of color. Her absorbing book starts […]

The Messiness of Microaggressions

1 Corinthians 12:12, 26 NRSV For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.   Hey there, […]

A Litany Against White Supremacy

As Charlottesville, VA becomes the focal point of white supremacy and those who stand against it, this litany was prepared by myself and Pastor Elizabeth Rawlings for use in worship. Litany against white supremacy Gracious and loving God, In the beginning, you created humanity and declared us very good We were made in Africa, came […]

The Power of Words

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT August 20, 2017, Proper 15A Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word, who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. As a part of my PhD program, I […]

Out of the Human Heart

What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.  In the name of God: the Source of Life, the Word of Love, and the Spirit of Truth. Amen. On Wednesday evening, I attended a community prayer service at John Wesley United Methodist Church, right up the street. The pastor there, Jerry Colbert, called the […]

Dear Church: It’s Time to Get Out of the Boat

The theologian Karl Barth was known to have said that preachers should write their sermons with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. If he were alive today, he might have amended that statement to say that we should preach with the Bible in one hand and our Facebook news feed […]

Sinking: A Sermon on Genesis 37, Matthew 14, and Charlottesville

As the children leave, I ask of you a moment of personal privilege. I am grateful for the trust you give to your pastors and for the gospel which has been entrusted to all of us as people of faith. I also want to remind you that a pastor’s role in preaching, like the shepherd’s […]