The Brown Line Church Podcast

In the wake of continued tragedies, judgment and shame around our own responses and the responses of others can arise. What if, instead, we allowed compassion to re-align our vision? Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan offers wisdom here...

We wonder, this week, what voices you’re paying attention to in the wake of what happened in Buffalo? Our own comments as pastors, for the sake of our community, are just: it’s okay if you don’t feel optimistic right now about the world. To believe in the God Jesus shows — who joins those who suffer in solidarity, and whose mission is to bend the world toward justice — DOESN’T require you to feel...

What does it mean to be fearfully and wonderfully made? (Psalm 139) From a lens of judgment, scriptures like this are a weapon for controlling marginalized bodies. From a lens of love, they speak to God's companionship in the complexity of our embodied experiences.

Formed by things like reality tv, religious legalism, and even a little too much self help, we can often automatically take on a lens of judgment when looking at ourselves and those around us. Instead of falling into the trap of comparison, can we adjust our vision to see more clearly through a lens of compassion?

This is Vince's last Sunday on the mic for a month. He offers some pastoral comments for the moment.

For our Easter reflection this year, Hayley is struck by the opening line from the Gospel of John's telling of Mary Magdalene's visit to Jesus' tomb on Easter morning: "While it was still dark..."

Any uncomfortable feelings and thoughts you may be carrying are NOT distractions from you observing Good Friday; they are the reasons to observe it. We hope this brief reflection and prayer in consideration of Jesus on the Cross helps you to experience the Cross as “solidarity” and “breaking cycles of blame and revenge” (rather than as “substitution” or “punishment”).

You are not alone if you find it inconsistent, problematic, or shaming the way Jesus’ crucifixion is presented as “substitution” in the vast majority of American churches (as though God needs someone to be punished, and Jesus “substitutes” himself for us, who really deserve the punishment). As we begin Holy Week this Lent, we offer some ways to shift your consideration of Jesus’ crucifixion away f...

60% of American adults believe in the idea of soulmates, according to a recent YouGov poll. But romance can be a fickle, crappy, unforgiving thing to put one’s trust in. Unfortunately, much of American religion reinforces the belief that to be single is to be incomplete. How can a community like BLC counter such beliefs?

Purity culture (making "acceptance from God" dependent on White American Evangelicalism's specific ideas on sexual ethics and gender identities) peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s, and still has a massive impact today. Is there a way outside of purity culture to find God's help in developing a healthy sexual ethic? We believe so!

Christian supremacy is very much linked to the other supremacies our world is talking about (white supremacy, national supremacy), but it’s sometimes given a pass because of an interpretation of Jesus’ words: “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Is there another way to interpret Jesus’ words? Is there a way to wholly give oneself to the tradition of Jesus and not end up a Christian Supr...

How can anyone believe in a loving and powerful God when there is so much evil and suffering in the world? If the common religious response that "it's all a part of God's plan" is not satisfying to you (or has hurt you personally), you are not alone. For week 1 of Lent, we experiment with an alternative way to believe in a loving and powerful God -- that doesn't bypass people's pain, that is consi...

A three minute guided prayer from Vince to begin Lent

As Jesus offered specific critique of the 1st century Roman Empire's so-called "peace", it feels important to us to offer specific critique of 21st century America's so-called "peace". Vince gives one more framing to our upcoming Lent 2022 experiment in giving up false beliefs.

Summarizing Jesus' message about how human growth and change works, Fr. Richard Rohr suggests no one can think themselves into new ways of living; we must live ourselves into new ways of thinking. We have this insight in mind as we prepare to give up false beliefs for Lent this year.

Psychological growth often involves leaving behind coping mechanisms from our past that used to protect us but now harm us. Spiritual growth often involves doing the same with religious coping mechanisms. Seeing this process through requires an ability to look back at our past selves with compassion rather than disdain.

This week we honor the way our Co-Founding Pastor Kyle Hanawalt has shaped our community forever.

There's more to Jesus' three examples of non-retaliation from the Sermon on the Mount -- "turn the other cheek", "let them take your cloak also", and "go the extra mile" -- than it seems on the surface. (Art: "Come Ye Blessed... " from the Sermon on the Mount, by Nathaniel Mokgosi. 1980.)

Most of the images Jesus and St. Paul used to describe life are organic things that grow and change -- soil, vines, bodies, families -- rather than manufactured or mechanistic things that follow formulas. There's A LOT of wisdom behind that! (Art by Scott Erickson: @scottthepainter)

On the weekend our country remembers Dr. King, we do a book report on Howard Thurman's "Jesus and the Disinherited" -- reportedly the book Dr. King kept in his pocket during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Thurman is one of the most important theologians in American history, but unfortunately not as well known as he ought to be. (Photo: Book jacket for "Jesus and the Disinherited" by Howard Thurman)

Hayley and Vince, inspired by both new and ancient things they've read recently, want you to realize that your prayer life is probably in better shape than you think it is! (Art: Book jacket for "A Rhythm of Prayer" edited by Sarah Bessey)

Hayley Larson reflects for us after our annual take on the traditional Anglican Christmas Carols Service.

A specific prayer practice some at BLC find extremely helpful is Emmanuel Prayer. It involves accessing our memories to help us connect with the God who is always with us (Emmanuel means "God with us", and is a name for God we return to often during Advent). Vince interview BLC's Anna Cruz about her experience.

The season of Advent in the church calendar encourages us to annually come back to the theme of "waiting", suggesting how core it is to learn to "wait well" in order to "live well". Hayley and Vince unpack some helpful and some harmful spiritual perspectives on waiting they've encountered (and perhaps you have too?)

We ring in the first Sunday of Advent 2021 with our first visit of the year to some of our favorite Carols, and a look at the song of Mary from Luke 1, according to the First Nations Version of the English New Testament.