Oriented to Love Archives

Building Futures from the Ground Up: How Zion’s Closet Is Transforming Title I Schools

By Terence Lester, PhD

(Editor’s note: This is Part 3 of a 4-part series on economic injustice. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. In this post, Dr. Terence Lester shows how compassion can grow into systemic change.)

____
In 2016, with the support of my family and board of directors, I launched a campaign called MAP16 (March Against Poverty) to walk from Atlanta, GA, to the White House to raise awareness about homelessness in the U.S.

Giving Thanks for CSA

By CSA Staff

To celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we asked leaders around the country to share why they are grateful for CSA and our work. We got back five inspiring videos highlighting a range of programs.

Thank you, Tony

By Nikki Toyama-Szeto
“I first encountered Tony, as many others did, as he preached from a big stage in front of a lot of people…”

Transgender Day of Remembrance

By Allison

Every year on November 20th, family members, allies and souls who identify as LGBTQ—particularly transgender or gender nonconforming individuals—come together to honor those who have been killed in the last year simply for existing.

Lament, Despair, and Hope

By Rick Barry
Many evangelical Christians confuse lamentation for despair. This confusion can cut us off from one of the most powerful tools in our spiritual arsenal.

A Vote as Prayer

By Nikki Toyama-Szeto
Our Executive Director offers words of support, confession and encouragement ahead of the 2024 elections.

The Idolatry of “Christian” Nationalism

By Stephen Mattson

This article was originally published by Red Letter Christians and originally run on the CSA website in March of 2021.

Christian Nationalism is a form of self-righteousness. It’s a spirituality that blends Colonialism and Manifest Destiny.

20 Minute Takes – Janna Louie: AAPI Voters, Faith & Politics

By Janna Louie

Season 6, Episode 12

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki talks with Rev. Janna Louie, co-founder of the Coalition for Asian American and Pacific Islander Churches (CAAPIC). In this episode, they discuss the complex historical dynamics that affect Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters, and the work that CAAPIC does to encourage AAPI Christians to show up as engaged citizens who participate robustly in the democratic process here in the United States.

2024 Election Resources

By Alyssa Sickle
A collection of resources to help you navigate this election season—and beyond!

20 Minute Takes – Bill White: LGBTQ+ Inclusion, the Church, & Deepening Our Faith

By Bill White

Season 6, Episode 7

This week, Nikki talks with Bill White, co-pastor of City Church Long Beach. Bill shares the story of his son coming out and how that experience challenged his theology and ultimately deepened his faith in Jesus.

An Antichrist Around Every Corner

By Rick Barry

Presidential campaigns have a long, storied history of character attacks. Candidates have been called bastards, drunkards and moral lepers. But there’s one incredibly specific allegation that gets levied against presidential candidates more and more often in the social media era: “antichrist.”

When people on my Facebook feed started panicking about whether President Obama was the Antichrist (a panic common enough that it made it into The Onion), it was still novel to me.

Pursuing Healing in Two Different Lands: An Interview with Yvonne Dodd Sawyer

By Christina Stanton
In just seven years, Yvonne Dodd Sawyer founded two organizations that pursued similar missions in very different ways. In this interview, she shares how this happened and how the cities she was in changed the way the organizations pursued their work.

Memory and Sacrament: A Theologian’s Relationship to Scripture

By David de Leon

I am not a Bible scholar. In fact, the running joke for people in my field (systematic theology) is that we have absolutely no idea what to do with scripture. So when the opportunity to lead a Bible study at my church presented itself this past spring, I surprised myself and jumped at the opportunity.

20 Minute Takes – Jesse Rudy: Widows, Orphans, and Land Theft in Uganda

By Nikki Toyama-Szeto

Season 6, Episode 10

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki talks with Jesse Rudy. Trained as an attorney, Jesse is the founder and CEO of Redeem International, a Christian faith-based nonprofit that protects some of the world’s most vulnerable widows and orphans from violent abuse and exploitation.

The Nature of Gospel Hope

By CSA Team

What does it mean to have hope—real hope? Gospel hope? And what does hope look like when we are in the midst of questionable, unsettling, or unsure times?

Is hope naïve?

Online Articles