Author: Jill Crainshaw
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Words Made Flesh
God’s Word and words made flesh in preaching and worship matter. Communication and not the noise of slogans or the repetition of cliches is becoming more and more difficult. . . speech is in danger of perishing or being perverted in the amplified noise of beasts. . . .There is therefore it seems to me…
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God’s Hands, Our Hands: A Holy Week Reflection
So many people across the globe have been on my mind throughout this Lenten season. One image haunts me even as it steadies my thoughts. Hands.
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A Widow’s Mi(gh)te
I have been wandering a writing wilderness. My human dustiness has fogged my brain and smudged my creative vision for many months now. A few weeks ago I experienced an unexpected stirring of my imagination. Some friends and I were gathered together near a park in my city. A wonderful water feature, a fountain with…
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Writing Prayers Together: Mercy Embraced and Grace Discovered
. . . out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34b God spoke life and beauty into being in the beginning. Through psalm-singers and shepherds on hillsides, through prophesying women and dreaming men, through a teenager in Nazareth and an angel in Joseph’s ear, through prophets, priests, princes, and kings, God…
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Some Stones, a Little Oil, and a Good Night’s Sleep
I teach worship and liturgical theology at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. After many months of “Zoom worship,” we returned to our beloved chapel on campus several weeks ago. I had the honor of serving as the proclaimer for the August 31 chapel service, our second service of the semester. The text for the…
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“Words Are Turtles”: Some thoughts for a new season of teaching worship
A new semester has begun! As a teacher this semester, I am excited about reading the written work of my students. I know from past experience how many wonderful insights, questions, and big ideas surface from mysterious depths as students craft reflections and essays. I celebrate the gifts that await our shared discovery, springtime gifts…
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Rock Us into Joy
Virtual worship. What an unusual and intriguing phrase, one that has made its way into my everyday vocabulary. Covid-19 has not been able to stop faith communities from worshiping together in spirit and truth–in safe and socially distanced ways. Zoom worship windows, Facebook watch parties, YouTube gatherings, and more have become sacred spaces where people…
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Catching the Light
. . . and the stars will be falling from heaven. MARK 13:25 Apocalyptic stars make a grand appearance in the lectionary texts for the First Sunday of Advent. I was reminded of these Advent stars when I walked in my neighborhood a few nights ago. A crescent moon wandered up beneath two twinkling…
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And also with you: A Liturgical Spirituality of Radical Peace-Sharing
The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. Never before has the radical and prophetic power of these liturgical words struck me as it does in this post-Election Day liminal space. We often speak this greeting to each other in Sunday worship with an easy familiarity. Before Covid-19, we even embodied the…