By now, I think we can safely assume, the sages from the East were headed back home—wherever home was. more

Christmas is, after all, an invented date…The much more serious question is whether Christianity itself is an invented faith. more

“Please remember that advocacy, and this social justice work, are part of who we are as people of faith, as Christians. Just as worship and prayer, and giving, and volunteering shape our spiritual lives—so must advocacy for the common good.” more

On Sunday, Protestants for the Common Good celebrated its 15th anniversary with an event at St. Pauls UCC in Lincoln Park. Keynote speaker and PCG board member, Chris Gamwell, offered a vision of PCG as it looks forward to another 15 years of advocacy and education. We invite you to share in that vision by reading Chris Gamwell’s words… more

Too many religious people make faith their aim. They think the “greatest of these” is faith, and faith is defined as all but infallible doctrine. These are the dogmatic, divisive Christians, more concerned with freezing the doctrine than warming the heart. If faith can be exclusive, love can only be inclusive. “Make love your aim.” more

Thank God (literally) our Roman Catholic and Orthodox sisters and brother aren’t biblical literalists. Otherwise, they certainly would be in big trouble with Jesus and his teachings about what we call ourselves. more

Peter Baugher, Partner, Schopf & Weiss LLC, and member of the PCG of Directors, offered the following reflection and introduction when the Rev. Alexander Sharp preached at the First Congregational Church of Wilmette on the text Matthew 22:15 “Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” more

In December 1995, I was a Divinity School student lucky enough to be doing my field work under the Rev. Eugene Winkler at the Chicago Temple. I heard somebody mention that a group would be testing whether an alternative voice to the political Christian right could be formed. I was present at this worship service rally of over 700 clergy and lay activists. How could I have known that all these years later I would be inviting you to celebrate with us the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of Protestants for the Common Good? Please join us on Sunday, November 6 at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Lincoln Park, Chicago. more

A friend reminded me awhile back that when the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus in order to entrap him during that last week of his earthly life, he finessed their own entrapment. The question the Pharisees raised was simple: Is it, or is it not, lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? more

Sometimes it is important simply to do the right thing. That is why the Board of Protestants for the Common Good called last week for a shift from a flat to a progressive income tax for Illinois. more