The Crossings Blog

Thursday Theology -full listing Crossings Film Series
  • Thursday Theology: The Awful Tree and the Composting God: Holy Week Reflections
    Co-missioners, Assorted musings led me this week to an old Good Friday hymn that I recall from my childhood. Written by John Ellerton, a nineteenth-century Church of England cleric, it featured one of those first-line titles that tends to stick in a boy’s memory. “Throned Upon the Awful Tree”—thus Ellerton. The later editors of the Missouri ...
  • Thursday Theology: More Reflections on Seminex
    Co-missioners, This past February 20 featured one of the biggest gatherings yet for an online Crossings event. It was the second of two episodes in our Table Talk series devoted to the fiftieth anniversary of Seminex. Over twenty participants were asked to offer brief reflections on the following questions: What was Seminex really about, and why? How has ...
  • Thursday Theology: Resources for Holy Week Preaching and Listening
    Co-missioners, Today we set a new record for the shortest Thursday Theology post ever. It will also be one of the meatiest posts ever. That’s because we’re sending you some links to items on our website that we urge you to explore between now and next Thursday. It will involve more reading than we usually summon ...
  • Thursday Theology: A Cancer Patient’s Sermon on John 12:20-33
    Co-missioners, The Rev. Lori Cornell surprised us late last week with a submission for Thursday Theology. We can’t help but share it with you today, our first chance for doing so. That the work is pegged to the Gospel text for the Sunday after next is the lesser reason for the rush. The greater is to ...
  • Thursday Theology: Reflections on “Faith” and on “Following Jesus”
    Co-missioners, Consider this word, the one we’ve been greeting you with for the past six years: “co-missioners.” As in “fellow participants in the great, ongoing mission of the baptized.” As in people to whom the Instigator of that mission was also speaking on the first night of Easter when he said to his disciples, “As the ...
  • Thursday Theology: A Baptismal Reflection on Psalm 90
    Co-missioners, Today’s quotable quote: “The Message makes the messenger.” You’ll find it in this timely reflection by one of last week’s authors, our interim text-study editor, Mike Hoy. Peace and Joy, The Crossings Community ______________________________________________________________________   A Baptismal Reflection on Psalm 90 by Michael Hoy   My brother and his spouse ordered a special gift for my birthday in 2022. Knowing my liking of ...
  • Thursday Theology: Seminex Recollections by Michael Hoy and Amandus Derr
    Co-missioners, Five Thursdays ago we announced an intention to devote some of our posts this year to the story of Seminex and its implications for the Church’s mission in 2024. The present work of Crossings is certainly rooted in that story, as we pointed out in our post of January 18. A few days after that post ...
  • Thursday Theology: “Sleep Tight!” A Homily for Evening Prayer
    Co-missioners, Sermons have long been featured in Thursday Theology. Even so, we try as a rule not to send you two of them in a row. Today this rule gets broken. For good reason, we think. Chances are that our last two posts left some of you grieving for the state of the church. Written by Matt ...
  • Thursday Theology: “The Abiding Promise”: A Last Sermon at the Closing of a Congregation
    Co-missioners, Last week we sent you Matt Metevelis’ thoughts in the days before the last worship service at the congregation he’d been serving in Las Vegas. The service was held on Reformation Sunday, October 29, 2023. Matt preached. He sent us his manuscript. We share it with you here. In doing this, we invite prayers for the ...
  • Thursday Theology: A Pastor’s Lamentation
    Co-missioners, Today’s post is intended as something of a witness to everyone who loves the church in these years of its American decline. Our writer is Matt Metevelis. We’ll hear from him again next week. If you follow Thursday Theology, you’ll have encountered him a couple of times last year. He’s also one of the newer ...