19
December
2007
Many of us started our day today hearing the president’s press conference natterings in the background as we tried to munch our breakfast cereal or make our way to work. These past two weeks we also watched Congressional Democrats cave in completely on war spending, renewable energy source requirements for utilities, massive public subsidies to agribusiness, continued favored tax treatment for hedge fund managers, and a range of other vital issues on which they were supposed to lead us in a different direction.
Yes, the news on any given day can make us weep, or make us tremble with outrage, or both.
Yet we Christians live in joy, not despair, and we seek to engage others on the basis of hope, not cynicism. The Advent season helps us understand how and why we can do this. It’s not that we aren’t paying attention to the mendacities and betrayals that characterize these times. It’s that we have ALSO learned to pay attention to something else: to the light that has come into the world, a light that no amount of mendacity and betrayal can extinguish.
Emanuel: God with us, God in us, God through us, God for us. God for this suffering world!
On every single day of the year, PCU seeks to add to the available light, hope, and joy symbolized by Advent. We work tirelessly for the world spoken of in Mary’s song: a world in which the despised poor are lifted up and the hungry are at last filled with good things.
Because we believe passionately in the work we are doing, we aren’t ashamed to to say that we must have your passionate support–your prayers, your time, AND your financial support–in order to keep doing it.
Please consider making a year-end tax-deductible gift to PCU today! You can easily make an online donation here. If you prefer to donate by mail, you can send your check or credit card information (name, address, credit card number, MasterCard or Visa, and expiration date) to
Progressive Christians Uniting
316 W. 2nd Street, Suite 1104
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Thank you, and God bless!
Peter 
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12
December
2007
It is always and everywhere a good thing for people like me (smug, self-satisfied religious liberals – yup, that’s me) to be thoroughly doused with fresh cold water. In this case, with living water.
I knew a little bit about Brian McLaren’s remarkable nurturing of emergent Christian thinking and emergent Christian communities before reading his new book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope (just published by Thomas Nelson). But I must say I was not in the least bit prepared for McLaren’s theological range and depth or for his completely compelling social analysis. In a former life McLaren taught college students how to write, and his skill with language shows in the compression and clarity he exhibits in this volume. Read the rest of this entry »
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10
December
2007
With all the clashes over sexuality, faith, and biblical interpretation that have rocked the Christian world over the past years, we are in danger of losing sight of the real people, straight and gay, who must live within the tension of rejection while continuing to trust in God.
For the Bible Tells Me So brings us back to the solid truth of real people who have had to struggle through the painful division between faith and accepted beliefs about homosexuality, following five Christian families’ road through Scripture and Christian institutions as they come to terms with their gay or lesbian family member, including the family of Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, whose consecration continues to be challenged by conservative members of the Anglican Communion.
The movie was only shown in a few theatres in Los Angeles, and Progressive Christians Uniting is excited to be able to make it available to the wider community in free church screenings. We invite you to come see this award-winning documentary and take part in discussions about this issue over the next few weeks. Come with your friends — progressive or conservative! This is the movie that can make the difference.
Watch the trailer online!
December 16
Church of the Foothills
19211 Dodge Avenue at Newport
North Tustin, California 92705
6:30 PM
January 12
First Congregational Church of Long Beach
241 Cedar Avenue, Long Beach 90802
7 PM
January 12
Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Santa Monica
1343 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, 90405
6:00 dinner — all are welcome!
6:45 movie screening
January 13
First Congregational UCC, San Bernardino
3041 N Sierra Way, San Bernardino 93405
2 PM
This screening is co-sponsored by St. John’s Episcopal Church and Heartland Christian Fellowship Metropolitan Community Church.
January 13
Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association
7304 Jordan Avenue, Canoga Park, 91303
January 20
Claremont United Church of Christ
233 West Harrison Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
3:30PM
January 24
St Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church
13091 Galway St, Garden Grove, CA
Thurs, Jan 24th
7:00 pm
January 26
Fairview Community Church
2525 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
7 PM
January 27
St. Matthew Lutheran Church
1920 West Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale 91201
6 PM
Please join us for a special guest discussion with Bishop Emeritus Paul Egertson.
Jennifer Happening in the World No Comments »
5
December
2007
A sermon preached on December 2, the First Sunday of Advent, 2007, by Rev. George Regas
As we begin today the season of Advent, I want to frame this four week pilgrimage to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus with two biblical proclamations: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4) “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven
and on earth peace among all people.’” (Luke 2:4)
A four week pilgrimage of peace. That would be a wonderful Advent.
George Clooney relates a dinner conversation he had with his aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney. “She said she was a better singer when she got older.” And George said, “Why are you a better singer now? You can’t hold the notes like you used to. And you can’t hit the high notes like you used to.” And Rosemary Clooney said, “I don’t have to prove I can sing anymore.” (L.A. Times, 9/30/07)
And there is some of that story in this preacher, as I proclaim God’s urgent call to us to be deeply committed peacemakers in this war fractious world. I no longer have to prove I’m committed to peace. The greatness of All Saints Church is found in your deep commitment over the decades to be on the front lines pursuing peaceful resolutions for conflicts around the world.
I have gathered my remarks this morning around four concerns:
1. Alan Greenspan, in his just published memoir, writes: The Iraq War is largely about oil.” What are the implications of that statement?
2. There is such a horrendous cost for the Iraq War; how do we live with the words of the prophet Isaiah and the challenges of Jesus, the peacemaker, as we fight for oil?
3. If humankind is ever to live in peace, the religions of the world must be true to their core mandates for peace; but with millennia of religious wars, is that really possible?
4. A final word to the All Saints Community: are you willing once again to give great leadership to the reawakening of a national peace movement, where religious faith is one of the primary imperatives? Read the rest of this entry »
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15
November
2007
Living in the world is to live in physical space — our souls within our bodies, our bodies within the world. Our community, our work, our justice, and our love and compassion are lived out through our relationship with the physical reality of creation, the mystery of incarnation that’s also at the heart of our faith.
That’s why it’s such an amazing and inspiring reality to look around and see how people of all faith traditions are waking up to the truth that we are responsible for the health of all the world as we navigate our own lives — the health and well-being of other human beings, of other forms of life, of all creation. We live that out in our daily choices, and in our commitment to justice and care for all that is.
In the past few months, with many other members of PCU, I’ve had the opportunity to hear speakers from a wide variety of faith traditions on the relationship of self to world, and particularly of self to environmental crisis. Thich Nhat Hanh, the great Vietnamese Buddhist monk, meditated with us on the need for compassion towards self as the basis as compassion towards others and towards creation — and the need for self-discipline, loving self-discipline, in our relationship to our battered world which is so close to collapse. Xioayi Liao, the founder of Beijing Global Village and one of China’s leading environmentalists, also emphasized that the boundaries we place between our souls, our bodies, and our environment are false ones. We need a spiritual and very bodily love of our physical selves for healthy souls; our bodies and our souls are degraded as we degrade our environment, ignore community, neglect our own health, and focus only on accumulation, convenience, and status. Living within the physical world, and taking responsibility for our relationship wiith it, is not a matter of ignoring personal self-discipline and self-love; it is a matter, instead, of choosing disciplines of joy, awareness, and compassion for self and others. Read the rest of this entry »
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6
November
2007
So thanks to Feinstein and Schumer we’ll be getting a new attorney general who can’t say straight out that waterboarding is torture. What makes us so sure that if voters a year from now choose to put a Democrat in the White House, this new chief executive won’t endorse (in secret, of course) the same kinds of practices–brutal interrogations, detentions, torture, renditions, wiretapping, repression of domestic dissent, etc.–that the current chief promotes? What makes us so sure that the ugly underside of American Empire will operate much differently than it does today? Read the rest of this entry »
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25
October
2007
No doubt many of you woke up today hearing Condoleeza Rice calling for much tougher Iran sanctions and mimicking the Vice President in suggesting that imminent “consequences” will follow if Iran does not cease financing terror and (allegedly) supporting anti-U.S. insurgents in Iraq. None of us can any longer dismiss the possibility that the Bush Administration will in fact bomb Iran in the months that remain on their “watch.” But neither should we resign ourselves to this horrendous possibility. We can take steps now that could yet help restrain the warmongers on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Open Conversations. In our congregations and neighborhoods, we can open conversations by saying, simply, “So. It looks like Bush and Cheney actually do intend to bomb Iran before they leave office. Can you believe it?” Lead the conversation in the direction of the terrible strain on our military should this happen, the likelihood of very significant Iranian retaliation against our forces in Iraq, against Israel—possibly even against targets in Europe and North America—and that fact that our forces absolutely do NOT have the capacity to sustain war against Iran beyond the first air strikes. They had no plan for Iraq, as we now know, and they definitely have no plan for Iran beyond bombing that country back to the Stone Age in a first strike. Finally, make the point that the U.S. can never get out of Iraq with any kind of honor unless we start talking to Iran, which has a direct and immediate interest in helping stabilize Iraq following a U.S. troop withdrawal. Thus, by pushing Iran away from any possibility of direct talks, the Bush hardliners also ensure prolongation of the Iraq disaster.
Let Your Representatives in Congress Know You Are Paying Attention. Call or write IMMEDIATELY, telling them you are horrified by the apparent determination of the Bush people to go to the brink of war or beyond. Make all the same points in #1 above: our overstrained military, the near certainty of major Iranian retaliation, and the aggravation and perpetuation of the Iraq madness unless we begin talking to Iran instead of demonizing and threatening them.
Plan What You Will Do If/When the Bombing Begins. Insist that your church peace and justice group or your neighborhood peace group make plans for all the forms your protest and your witness will take if, despite everything, Bush orders bombing. The rest of the world will need to see that while Cheney and the hardcore hawks might be (literally) insane, there remains a vast reservoir of people in America who not only do not support the madmen but who are prepared to make personal sacrifices, if need be, to demonstrate their commitment to peaceful tomorrows.
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19
October
2007
Progressive Christians Uniting applauds the call for interfaith respect and understanding issued on Oct. 11 by Muslim leaders and scholars from around the world.
The open letter to Christians, signed by 138 noted clerics, theologians, and academics, highlights significant common ground between the two faiths and also underscores the extent of the healing and illumination that are still required if we are to avoid allowing our traditions to continue to support the clash of “ignorant armies,” in Matthew Arnold’s phrasing.
Now Christians everywhere must engage in their own in-depth reflection on the grave damage done not just to the Muslim world but to the integrity of Christian belief itself as a consequence of a continuing demonization of Islam that is actively encouraged by significant segments within the Christian community.
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11
October
2007
This weekend For the Bible Tells Me So, an award-winning new documentary about family, homosexuality, and Christian faith, opens nationally in theatres. We are encouraging all of our members to take some time this weekend to see the film — and to talk about it with friends, family, and communities of faith. It is an outstanding opportunity for life-changing conversations…and the more people who see the film in theatres, the more likely it is that the film’s run will be extended to a wider audience.
“Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate?
“Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival, Dan Karslake’s provocative, entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible. As the film notes, most Christians live their lives today without feeling obliged to kill anyone who works on the Sabbath or eats shrimp (as a literal reading of scripture dictates).
“Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families — including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson — we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.”
To find
a screening near you, throughout the country, visit the For the Bible Tells Me So website.
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27
September
2007
Sermon for the Mt. Hollywood Congregational Church, September 23, 2007 – Peter Laarman
Jeremiah 8.18-9.1; Luke 16.1-13
Preachers from time immemorial have wanted to get the attention of their listeners by painting a grim picture of a world that is perishing. What I want to observe here this morning is that, while once such characterizations of chaos and catastrophe could be dismissed a cheap rhetorical flourishes, today we are looking at a world that is quite literally perishing—what with the arctic ice cap now looking like miscellaneous small cubes in the bottom of a cocktail glass, with the imminent threat of massive species loss, and with strange new plagues and viruses related to global warming beginning to pop up alarmingly all over the place. Read the rest of this entry »
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