Disagreement is not the enemy of church health. Disconnection is. –Keith Clark-Hoyos (Embracing Our Call, 2025)

Our proposals move in a different direction. We propose that this unraveling has no fixes. There is no renewal or revival to be operationalized. God has brought us to this place. –Alan Roxburgh & Roy Searle (Communities of Hope, 2025)

Finding work that aligns with our passions, desires, and gifts is, of course, ideal. It just doesn’t always happen, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you. –Karen Swallow Prior (You Have a Calling, 2025)

A theology of flourishing begins with the conviction that creation is fundamentally good and made to flourish. –Paul Schutz (A Theology of Flourishing, 2025)

For two decades in church, I suppressed my feelings and trauma until one day, they overwhelmed me, and I resigned from the ministry. –Karl Forehand (Campfires in the Desert, 2025)

If the Euro-tribal churches continue to focus on fixing themselves or climbing aboard the latest movements . . . they will become irrelevant. –Alan Roxburgh & Roy Searle (Communities of Hope, 2025)

Worship in the Food Pantry - Reflecting on My Once in a Lifetime Experience - sowhatfaith.com/2025/11/09/w... #worship #snap #foodpantry

In short, hell - at least, the notion of hell that is most commonly used today to threaten and intimidate people into obedience - is not only harmful, it’s unbiblical, –Dan McClellan (The Bible Says So, 2025)

Another first at Hope! This morning we welcomed children, youth, and families from King of Glory Lutheran Church for a worship service and service project in the Food Pantry. Grateful to Harold Huddleston for coordinating - somehow we've been teaming up on ministry ventures for 20 years now.

Date night in Grapevine

The Bible nowhere addresses, much less condemns, homosexuality as a sexual orientation. –Dan McClellan (The Bible Says So, 2025)

Honored to share the story of Hope today at Fellowship Dallas' Equipped to Go Conference. Grateful for this congregation's ongoing support of Hope.

Discipleship doesn’t begin by seeing ourselves as sinners. Anyone can do that. That’s why we hide. Discipleship begins by seeing ourselves as Jesus sees us. –Diana Butler Bass (A Beautiful Year, 2025)

. . . a close reading of the Bible, including the teachings of Jesus, reveals a vast antipoverty program and social justice mission . . . –ed. by Liz Theoharis & Charon Hribar (We Pray Freedom, 2025)

Celebrating My Ordiversary: Reflections on Another Year of Ministry - Grateful for the Opportunities at White Rock Center of Hope, Advent Lutheran Church, the United Church of Christ, and the Wider Church and Community - sowhatfaith.com/2025/11/05/c...

The Christian year extols empathy, vulnerability, gratitude, and compassion. It praises no nation-state, and it is cosmic in its vision. –Diana Butler Bass (A Beautiful Year, 2025)

If there is one hallmark of evangelicals, it is that they are incredibly devoted to their religious tradition.–Ryan P. Burge (The American Religious Landscape, 2025)

Check out this month's recommended reads from So What Faith, including volumes by Isaac Samuel Villegas, Richard W. Voelz, Wesley Granberg-Michaelson & John Fugelsang - sowhatfaith.com/2025/11/03/g... #bookrecommendations

Blessed by Northridge Presbyterian Church's strong support of White Rock Center of Hope beginning with their Pastor, Rev. Betsy Swetenburg. This afternoon a group from Northridge volunteered at Hope as part of the congregation's fourth annual Northridge Serves Day.

Grateful for @1stuchurch.bsky.social ongoing support of White Rock Center of Hope. Honored that Hope was selected as the First Sunday Giveback recipient for November and thankful for the opportunity to speak during their All Soul's Day worship services this morning.

As an American, I live in a country that can’t seem to decide what time it is.Do we live in a season of new freedoms...Or do we live in a time like the end of the Roman Republic, when traditions &institutions of democracy were replaced by authoritarian rule? –Diana Butler Bass (Beautiful Year, 2025)

A little rain could not stop the work of Hope! This morning White Rock Center of Hope provided more pounds of food to neighbors in need than any day in our 38 year history. Grateful to all who volunteered or donated to make this possible.

The Hebrew Bible lacks any reference at all to the concept of creation out of nothing. –Dan McClellan (The Bible Says So, 2025)

Just 50 years ago, nearly 90% of all adults identified with a Christian tradition. Today, that share has dropped to just over 60%. –Ryan P. Burge (The American Religious Landscape, 2025)

Communities of hope dwell with and attend to the stories of the people in their communities. –Alan Roxburgh & Roy Searle (Communities of Hope, 2025)

Hope is rising! So many families are about to lose their SNAP benefits, and it’s heartbreaking. If you’ve been wondering how you can make a real difference, let’s talk! There are so many ways to help - from volunteering and donating to simply shopping at Hope's award-winning thrift store.

. . . in the 5 decades of the General Social Survey, no religious tradition has claimed a higher percentage of the population than the mainline did in 1975. –Ryan P. Burge (The American Religious Landscape, 2025)

Inspired by The Rev. Dr. Bill Tillman: My 25-Year Writing Journey - sowhatfaith.com/2025/10/27/i... #writing #ministry #mentor

Nobody in a position of influence over a community of Bible believers subordinates their needs and interests entirely to the Bible. There is no such thing as a biblical literalist. –Dan McClellan (The Bible Says So, 2025)

Celebrating Reformation in N. Dallas at a service of worship that includes confirmation. Grateful for the ministry of King of Glory.

Great morning to vote! Have you voted or made a plan to vote?

Knowledge as possession is concerned with answers; knowledge as activity is open to questions. The life of faith calls for both kinds of knowledge in order to nurture a strong and vibrant spirituality. –Peter Choi (Christian Century, November 2025)

Remissioning churches aim to grow transformational disciples from the inside out who will imitate Jesus and seek the flourishing of their neighbors. –Josh Hayden (Remissioning Church, 2025)

. . . the Bible doesn't say anything at all. The Bible is a collection of texts, and texts do not have inherent meaning. –Dan McClellan (The Bible Says So, 2025)

Meanwhile, the Methodists went from 2% of Christians in 1776 to nearly 35% by 1850. But that was the high watermark for Methodism. –Ryan P. Burge (The American Religious Landscape, 2025)

You have a calling. In fact, you have more than one calling. Indeed, you will have various callings over the course of your lifetime. –Karen Swallow Prior (You Have a Calling, 2025)

Modern organizations with their professionalized, ordained experts and bureaucratic elites aren’t able to recognize the ways of God. –Alan Roxburgh & Roy Searle (Communities of Hope, 2025)

Genesis 1 begins with God looking over tohu wabohu, a watery void that represents primordial chaos - a common trope in Ancient Near Eastern creation myths. –Paul Schutz (A Theology of Flourishing, 2025)

God is acting, in Christ, by the Spirit, and through the church for the healing of creation. –Alan Roxburgh & Roy Searle (Communities of Hope, 2025)

Thecla’s story, and the scripture where it is found, suggests that women held positions of spiritual authority from the start. –Meggan Watterson (The Girl Who Baptized Herself, 2025)

The Global Decline in Religious Identity - New Research on Secularization Extending Beyond Western Christian Nations - sowhatfaith.com/2025/10/19/t...

Now is the time for worship as we continue repainting the Christian faith #viewfromthepew #cohdallas #ucc

A great unraveling is now underway. The institutions we’ve come to take as normative now fail to address the multiple cascading crises of our time. –Alan Roxburgh & Roy Searle (Communities of Hope, 2025)

Attending the Fall Meeting of the North Texas Association of the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ in Carrollton, Texas

Notably, the 4 denominations w/ the highest levels of educational attainment & economic prosperity in the US - namely Episcopal, Presbyterian (PCUSA), Evangelical Lutheran (ELCA), & the Disciples of Christ - all fall within the mainline tradition. –Ryan P. Burge (American Religious Landscape, 2025)

Scripture is sacred because it's meant to be read and interpreted as art. –Meggan Watterson (The Girl Who Baptized Herself, 2025)

I think the Bible is the single most fascinating, complex, and influential text that has ever existed. –Dan McClellan (The Bible Says So, 2025)

In the mid-1970s, the US devoted 1.4% of our gross domestic product to federal interventions in affordable housing. Today, our commitment is less than a fifth of that, only 0.25%. –Fran Quigley (Eviction Court, 2025)

Purity makes my blood boil for one fundamental reason: Purity has been predominantly defined by men in positions of power since antiquity. –Meggan Watterson (The Girl Who Baptized Herself, 2025)

For too long churches have been more concerned with surviving than bearing fruit. –Josh Hayden (Remissioning Church, 2025)