Jul 2, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, A few weeks ago, my predecessor as Forward Movementâs head, the Rev. Dick Schmidt, reached out to me. He was going to be in town, and he wanted to come by the office with a friend of Forward Movement to meet me and other staff. Mike (pictured here) first got in […]
Jun 18, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, Today, as I write this, it is Tuesday evening. The reading for evening prayer includes part of the twelfth chapter of St. Lukeâs Gospel, in which Jesus holds a denarius and tells his followers to give to Caesar what is Caesarâs, and give to God what is Godâs. Divine worship is […]
Jun 11, 2025
Dear friends in Christ: We welcome back Lindsay Barrett-Adler, Forward Movementâs Director of Development, as our guest author this week. Last Sunday, we heard the story of Pentecost and celebrated the Holy Spiritâs descent into the world. Sitting with my preschooler in our church play space next to the lectern, I gave thanks for the […]
Jun 4, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, Sometimes it seems like the world is spinning out of control. Authoritarianism is on the rise around the world. Violence is endemic. Each dayâs headlines bring more chaos. To top it off, the church seems to be gripped by a death-spiral of decline and irrelevance. And then Jesus speaks in the Gospel […]
May 28, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, Tomorrow is one of the most important feast days of the church, Ascension Day. On this day, we celebrate the ascension of Jesus as he returned to his Father in heaven 40 days after Easter Day. Celebrating the ascension of Jesus is less about the mechanics of his return than it is about […]
May 21, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, Iâm writing this from Yukon, OK, where the Forward Movement board of directors has been meeting this week. We tend to alternate our meetings between Cincinnati and other locations across the church, hoping that we can learn from dioceses and congregations who are doing exemplary work. Our meeting this week has been hosted […]
May 14, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, As the church and the world change, we all need to change ourselves to keep up. Forward Movement is no exception, and Iâm delighted to share our new web presence with you. On our old website, commerce (buying things) was intermingled with our efforts to describe Forward Movement and our work. […]
May 7, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, At a time when the headlines seem to be dominated by bad news, I thought it might be nice to share some good news about the Good News. For years, the trends in church attendance and so on have been depressing. There are signs that a revival may be under way, […]
Apr 23, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, One of the things I love about the Gospel according to St. John is that there are a couple of places where the evangelist speaks directly to us, the reader. Itâs a bit like in a play or a TV show when one of the characters speaks directly to the audience, […]
Apr 16, 2025
Dear friends in Christ, Tomorrow we begin our annual pilgrimage through the three holiest days of the year: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Eve. In these liturgies, we are drawn into the heart of our faith. The theological term for this foundation on which our whole faith is built is the Paschal Mystery âthe […]