Church Anew Blog

Get Updates in Your Inbox

Want to stay up-to-date with the Church Anew Blog? Sign up for our weekly blog round-up.

Visit Our Archive of Writings from Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann

Rev. Dr. Brent A. Strawn 9/2/25 Rev. Dr. Brent A. Strawn 9/2/25

Where is the God of Walter?

I’m not yet sure what to do in a world without Walter. But I know what he’d do—he’d go back to the text. And what do you know? Just like Walter said it would, the Bible has resources for us to think about the crisis of this day.

Ryan Panzer 8/28/25 Ryan Panzer 8/28/25

Of Water and Wafers: Resisting Inwardness in an AI World

Independence and autonomy are not the gifts of baptism or communion. Instead, these sacraments remind us that God comes to us from beyond ourselves—that salvation is given, not earned.

Rev. Emmy Kegler 8/27/25 Rev. Emmy Kegler 8/27/25

Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog: August 31 and September 7

Each week, we’ll offer a curated selection of blog posts that speak to the upcoming lectionary texts to help spark your imagination and serve as a thought partner for you. We hope these musings meet you right where you are with a fresh, bold, and faithful witness.

Amy Courts 8/20/25 Amy Courts 8/20/25

Martha Martha Dragon Slayer (Luke 10:38-42)

Why is it different here? What is so different about Martha that her “ministry” becomes “tasks” and “meal prep”? It is curious, indeed.

Rev. Emmy Kegler 8/19/25 Rev. Emmy Kegler 8/19/25

Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog: August 24 and 31

Each week, we’ll offer a curated selection of blog posts that speak to the upcoming lectionary texts to help spark your imagination and serve as a thought partner for you. We hope these musings meet you right where you are with a fresh, bold, and faithful witness.

Ryan Panzer 8/14/25 Ryan Panzer 8/14/25

When the Sunday Scaries Meet the Gospel: Meeting God in the Overwhelm

The Sunday Scaries—the creeping dread that arrives as the weekend slips away and the responsibilities of the new week inch closer—aren’t just cultural noise. They reflect something deeper: our desire to be in control of our lives, to meet expectations, and to stay ahead of what’s next. But into this anxious reality, the Gospel speaks a quiet and disruptive word of grace.

Rev. Emmy Kegler 8/14/25 Rev. Emmy Kegler 8/14/25

Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog: August 17 and 24

Each week, we’ll offer a curated selection of blog posts that speak to the upcoming lectionary texts to help spark your imagination and serve as a thought partner for you. We hope these musings meet you right where you are with a fresh, bold, and faithful witness.

Kat Armas 8/11/25 Kat Armas 8/11/25

Empire in the Everglades: Prophetic Imagination in the Face of “Alligator Alcatraz”

The prophets offer us a glimpse of what could be, but visions are not guarantees. They demand something of us.

Rev. Emmy Kegler 7/31/25 Rev. Emmy Kegler 7/31/25

Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog

Each week, we’ll offer a curated selection of blog posts that speak to the upcoming lectionary texts to help spark your imagination and serve as a thought partner for you. We hope these musings meet you right where you are with a fresh, bold, and faithful witness.

Kat Armas 7/29/25 Kat Armas 7/29/25

Is Your Anger a Good Thing?

Maybe that’s the point. Maybe the story was never about the whale, but about a God who dares to ask us things we don’t yet know how to answer.

Deacon Lauren Morse-Wendt 7/17/25 Deacon Lauren Morse-Wendt 7/17/25

Improv for Preaching

How might such silly exercises embed the deeply sacred value that everyone’s voice is needed and worthy in your community?

Angela Denker 7/16/25 Angela Denker 7/16/25

Partisan Politics Are So 2024

This is our past year in America, and now that we’ve reviewed it — can we finally consign the political past of 2024 to the dustbin of history?

Rev. Dr. Charlene Rachuy Cox 7/10/25 Rev. Dr. Charlene Rachuy Cox 7/10/25

St. Mary Magdalene

The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene – July 22 –
Has long been on my calendar
Because
She has long been
A prophetic
Source of
Inspiration,
Wisdom,
Solace,
And yes Courage.

Rev. Lori Broschat 6/30/25 Rev. Lori Broschat 6/30/25

Walk the Path with Me: Devotions for Dementia, Part 2

How am I able to live this way? Because I know God is my strength and song.

Hannah Papenfuss 6/26/25 Hannah Papenfuss 6/26/25

Two Things Can Be True: Disability, Healing, and a Vulnerable God

Why shift our thinking to heaven when there is so much work we can do in this life to promote inclusion and break down barriers? If we work to create a more accessible world, less people would feel like they need to be healed.

Dr. Dee Stokes 6/25/25 Dr. Dee Stokes 6/25/25

Seek, Be, Do

I am trying to say that the Lord is teaching me that SEEKING is BEING! You see, God is not calling us to DO more. We get it wrong all the time. We have enough to DO. SEEKING requires spending time, listening, heeding, and obeying.

Rev. Dr. Charlene Rachuy Cox 6/20/25 Rev. Dr. Charlene Rachuy Cox 6/20/25

WomenSpeak

I was decades old
Before I realized
The presence
Of the absence
Of women’s narratives,
Women’s stories,
Women’s voices
In the Lectionary,
In regular, weekly Christian worship.

Natalia Terfa 6/13/25 Natalia Terfa 6/13/25

Let the Words…

What about when I open the door for someone whose arms are full? When I stopped to smell the lilacs while walking in my neighborhood? When I didn’t respond to that mean email with another mean email? Let this offering be acceptable, O Lord.

Rev. Lori Broschat 5/29/25 Rev. Lori Broschat 5/29/25

Speak Comfort To Me: Devotions for Dementia

Sometimes we all need to have space to be sad or angry, or unable to express ourselves. When you have dementia this becomes more difficult to direct... Here is where we can introduce scripture for those who are struggling to communicate.