Zao MKE Church

Love is not simply a feeling or even a clear set of actions. It is an orientation to the world that changes everything. Following Jesus means studying the ways of love and letting it transform us into new beings.

With so many people arguing about "what the Bible says" and certainly what it all means, it is scripture itself that tells us how to determine what is true: examine the fruit a belief, a teaching, or a behavior bears.   What fruit has your life and belief borne? How can you cultivate a faith that nourishes, heals, and transforms?

From dust we came, and to dust we shall return...   This is the refrain of the season of Lent, when we remember the weeks and days leading up to Jesus's death and resurrection. The humble and holy beginnings of human beings reminds us of our limitations, but also our connectedness to God, all of creation, and one another.

Jesus loved to eat, drink and party, but those in power judged and criticized him for it. John rejected material pleasure and raged against sin, but the people in power hated that too. When it feels like we just can't win, what's really going on?   Jesus invites us to eat, drink, dance, abstain, weep, and wail, and all the while wonder: if the tone police will never be pleased, should we just stop...

God is making a way of abundance, but it looks different from the opulence of capitalist empire. What do the margins know about abundance that those in power are unwilling to hear?   God provides enough for all now, speaks through the wisdom of those creating out of scraps, and promises that in the end, there is enough for all - even if the mighty must be cast down from their thrones to get there....

God is described as a "sheltering God," offering protection from harm. The scriptures call God's people to follow in Her example by being "a shelter to the outcast."   With so many wounded by systemic oppression, church and religious abuse, childhood and relationship trauma, and more, we are instructed to cling to and protect one another in the name of our sheltering God. What are you sheltering f...

"Jesus loves you" falls pretty flat when it's spoken with hate, judgment, and condemnation. Though hyper-conservative Christians are the ones most often throwing around the term "false teaching," the scriptures actually warn us that evil teachings will harm the church and the people "through the hypocrisy of liars."   We'll dig into these warnings, including one that explicitly cautions against te...

Whether you call it impostor syndrome, having trouble "adulting", or minority stress - a lot of us feel not good enough. Jesus says, "let it go," own your authority, and be blessed to be part of something amazing.

On Christmas morning, we "repeat the sounding joy" and celebrate that Christ is here with us!

This is the time of year when we shout out our hope, our confidence, our faith that good things are coming to all creation. The birth of Jesus is both a gift and an announcement - God is at work, here with us, and inviting us into changing the world.   Welcome to Advent, the season of waiting and anticipating. Even as the nights grow longer, God promises that the darkness is fertile grounds for ho...

We're learning about trauma that gets passed through generations, but what about the good stuff? God's promises are generational, too - love, hope, healing, and new life.   Welcome to Advent, the season of waiting and anticipating. Even as the nights grow longer, God promises that the darkness is fertile grounds for hope, joy, peace, and love. Enter into the cold of winter with the warmth of commu...

As we enter the darkest season, God invites us into surrender. How do we trust in the abundance that will see us through to the other side?   Welcome to Advent, the season of waiting and anticipating. Even as the nights grow longer, God promises that the darkness is fertile grounds for hope, joy, peace, and love. Enter into the cold of winter with the warmth of community and the promises of new li...

No one will know when suffering will become liberation, or what will become of the many trials of this life, says Jesus. So what are we to do?   Jesus calls us stay present, embodied, and alive in the face of uncertainty and doubt. Stay alert - Be fully alive!

Maybe you've heard the story: A poor widow gives all she has, mere pennies, in offering to the temple. Is this a picture of perfect generosity? Or a protest of a system that takes everything--every last penny--from the most vulnerable?   Join us for Underground, a series on the gospel of Mark. We'll trace Jesus's story from beginning to end, as he builds a movement while trying to stay off the gri...

What does it mean to come out and claim our identity as counter cultural, liberationist, radical Jesus-followers? Join us for Underground, the continuation of our series on the gospel of Mark. We'll trace Jesus's story from beginning to end, as he builds a movement while trying to stay off the grid until the right moment arrives for the showdown with empire at the cross. This is the gospel like yo...

Divine Image Bearers? Totally depraved? Creatures? Co-creators? What does it mean to be human?   Some of us are ready to shed the shame-laden theology that claims human beings are rotten to the core. But how do we find our worth and keep our faith? Or does a faith without fear depend on seeing the good (and the God) in ourselves?   This season, join Zao for the series Rebuilding: Faith After Decon...

7 days ️or dinosaurs? Literal or mythological? Religion ️or science?   This week, we tackle the creation of all things. What have we been taught in church that's toxic or ignorant? What is a more nuanced and mature way to approach our Bibles, faith, and science?

If we reject the idea of God as a bearded white man in the clouds, we're still left with a question: Who is God, and what are they like?   This season, join Zao for the series Rebuilding: Faith After Deconstruction. We'll talk about what to do now that the foundation of your faith is in shambles around you - do you pick it up? walk away? or can we build something new?

Am I supposed to run everything by God? Does God really give us what we ask for? If my prayers aren't answered, was I not faithful enough?   Many of us have been taught toxic or simplistic messages about prayer - as though it is a cure-all, a measure of our faith, or a performance of our piety.   But scripture does instruct us to pray. So why do we do it, and does it work?   This season, join Zao...

What if the church has made an idol out of the Bible?   As so many of us deconstruct our faith, the Bible becomes more more troubling. What if the Bible isn't perfect? It doesn't need to be when we remember that the Bible isn't God.   This season, join Zao for the series Rebuilding: Faith After Deconstruction. We'll talk about what to do now that the foundation of your faith is in shambles around...

So you've been deconstructing all the toxic teachings of the fundie church you grew up in. Now what?   This Sunday, Zao kicks off the series Rebuilding: Faith After Deconstruction. We'll talk about what to do now that the foundation of your faith is in shambles around you - do you pick it up? walk away? or can we build something new?

Special guest sermon by Dee Dee Watters Dee Dee Watters (she/her/hers) is an unapologetic Black Woman of trans experience who is a mother, leader, healer, performer and recently stepping into her calling as a death doula. She’s a member of Freshwind Christian Fellowship under the guidance of Pastor Marvetta Walker. Dee Dee is the publisher for TransGriot an online publication and the host of Trans...

"I can see people," the man said, after Jesus touched his eyes. "But they look like trees, walking."   How do we perceive our world, and the people in it, when we are in the process of being healed? And how can we come to know the walking trees as human beings, made, like us, in the divine image of God?  

Sometimes it feels like the haters just won't quit. Jesus actually dealt with them, too - and has something to say about where the hate comes from and where, exactly it can go    Join us for Underground, a new series on the gospel of Mark. We'll trace Jesus's story from beginning to end, as he builds a movement while trying to stay off the grid until the right moment arrives for the showdown with...

How does our understanding of Jesus and the Bible change when we read it from a queer perspective? We'll take a single whole chapter and reinterpret story by story.   Not honored in his home town, creating abundance out of crumbs, and rocking a wardrobe so powerful that it'll heal your soul? Sounds queer to us!   Join us for Underground, a new series on the gospel of Mark. We'll trace Jesus's stor...