Writings

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Sermons

Blessed Are the Pure of Heart – For Tyre Nichols

This sermon was originally preached at a hybrid service of St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church. Relevant lectionary readings here. Grace and Peace are yours from the Triune God, amen. This morning we read Jesus’ first sermon moment in the book of Matthew, sometimes known as the Sermon on the Mount –  possibly the most famous sermon…

Hurry and Come Down

This sermon was first preached at a hybrid online and in-person service of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square on Sunday, October 30, 2022. Relevant lectionary readings can be found here. The Gospel of Luke is full of images of the lowly being brought up and those on high being brought low. Subverting roles.…

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Blog posts

Memorizing Scripture: A Progressive Case

Originally featured on the Salt Collective in 2018 Progressives have got to start memorizing scripture again. For so many of us, memorizing scripture brings up associations with church-related trauma. Especially for those of us who are LGBTQIA+, we know too well the ways that proof texted pieces of the Word were weaponized against us, hurled…

Faith in Public Life

This reflection was first recorded for an online service of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Many of us have been taught that the church “shouldn’t be political.” This stems maybe from a few places, but for me as someone who grew up in a white midwest suburb, I think it mainly…

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New to Elle’s work? Here’s a few posts from her Medium account to get to know her ministry and voice.

Pastor Elle, her husband Adam and her daughter smiles at the camera. Elle and Adam are white and have brown hair. Her daughter is Black and has black hair. All three are smiling.

Biphobia and the Pulse Massacre

Being a bi woman means occupying a lot of weird liminal space. In that way we are very queer….we don’t fit well into boxes. But the horrible thing about “passing privilege” is the closeting, the erasure.

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White Niceness is the Enemy of Black Liberation

We cannot serve our own comfort when it sacrifices the lives of our neighbors.

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#decolonizeCoffeeHour

I’ve experienced too much sexual harassment within the Church, too much slut shaming, too much queer bashing. No one is entitled to another persons body. Not even the Church.

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Jesus and Black Lace Lingerie

A pastor-in-training stripping down to her skivvies for a photoshoot seems like a glaring contradiction. But it shouldn’t be. Christianity, at its core, is a religion about bodies.

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