carstenbryant

A Sad Separation

Many have reached out to Bishop Willimon in the weeks following the release of the “Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation” to find out what he was thinking. The long wait is over: the Ministry Matters quarterly periodical The Circuit Rider has now released his essay “A Sad Separation.” Here is what he said:Continue reading “A Sad Separation”

Lent 2020: A Call to Prayer, Fasting, and Repentance Leading to Action

You may recall the Reclaiming Jesus statement released a couple years ago by Jim Wallis and Sojourners along with a long list of Will’s fellow church elders. In anticipation of Lent this year, much the same group has renewed the summons, now specifically to attend to the traditional Lenten practices with an eye to whatContinue reading “Lent 2020: A Call to Prayer, Fasting, and Repentance Leading to Action”

Leading with the Sermon: Excerpt II

Continuing the series, here’s a second excerpt from Leading with the Sermon: Preaching as Leadership which will be released on February 4 but is available for pre-order now. In that dialogue between heaven and earth, God has proved remarkably resourceful and imaginative, master of stratagems and devices—the Incarnation, Word Made Flesh, being the most ingenious ofContinue reading “Leading with the Sermon: Excerpt II”

Which One of You?

Abingdon will soon publish a book of stories, collected from decades of yarn-spinning. They’re calling it Stories by Willimon. Here’s an example, named “Which One of You?” A farmer goes forth to sow, carefully, meticulously preparing the ground, removing rocks and weeds, sowing one seed six inches from another… No! This farmer goes out andContinue reading “Which One of You?”

Leading with the Sermon: Excerpt I

Fortress Press has launched a new series they’re calling “Working Preacher Books.” Walter Brueggemann launched the series with Preaching from the Old Testament: a pithy summation of a lifetime of careful attention to the Old Testament with the faith that in its pages preachers and congregations can still hear a living word today. The secondContinue reading “Leading with the Sermon: Excerpt I”