Two events led me to start thinking about, praying with, and making art in response to the Song of Songs. The first was a Bible study during a clergy quiet day. We were reading Jesus’s Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Luke 16:1-13). As we sat in a circle, annoyed and shocked that Jesus would tell … Continue reading Who will I love, and how will I love them well?
Author: KPB Stevens
A Reflection on the Ministerium of Ideas First Year
What do our faith communities need to learn about in order to better serve the world around us? Twenty-four clergy and lay leaders gathered in April of 2014 to answer this question and form a new group in Columbus that we dubbed “The Ministerium of Ideas.” It’s the outgrowth of a community that had met … Continue reading A Reflection on the Ministerium of Ideas First Year
Give Play a Chance: A Reflection on the Play Conference
There’s an etch-a-sketch mounted on the wall of a Columbus coffee shop, with a carefully etched picture of leaves and flowers, and the words “Give Play a Chance.” I took a picture of it and texted it to Jane Gerdsen, Jed Dearing, and Aaron Wright, my co-collaborators in the Play Conference that took place at … Continue reading Give Play a Chance: A Reflection on the Play Conference
Fully Alive! A Pilgrimage in Chicago to Learn Improv
A line of people stood looking at a small table. It was empty, but they’d been told that there was a television on it, and asked to describe that television. “Use the phrase, ’it is,’ at the start of your description,” John Poole told them. Hesitantly, people offered their phrases. “It is black. It is … Continue reading Fully Alive! A Pilgrimage in Chicago to Learn Improv
How Do We Live in a Way that Isn’t Arranged Around the Economy?
We treat the economy as if it were God. We try to appease it, worry that it will smite us, and don’t really understand it. We’ve built our ethical systems around it. This became abundantly clear to Methodist Theological School of Ohio professor Yvonne Zimmerman when she was studying the movement to end human trafficking. … Continue reading How Do We Live in a Way that Isn’t Arranged Around the Economy?
KPB Stevens 