Brave Spaces: ‘All Shall Be Well’

View this email in your browser

A Series on Faithful Politics!

Featured Writer Miranda Zapor Cruz, who is the Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Indiana Wesleyan University, has graciously written a series of articles for Missio Alliance throughout the autumn season on what faithful politics in this cultural moment of divisive political polarization looks like for the Christ-follower. Her series walks a college student on her campus through a series of conversations that wrestle with central issues of fidelity in the midst of the political fog that envelops us all.

We enthusiastically and prayerfully recommend Miranda’s series to you as a helpful, generative framework to walk with God in this political moment in a faithful way. Links to her series are found below:

Part 1: My Country Isn’t the Kingdom
Part 2: Faithful Approaches to Politics

Part 3, Faithful Responses to Election Results, is almost here! Join us live at 8 PM ET on Election Night as we dive into Faithful Responses to Election Results. Don’t miss it!

Over the course of 2024, we have published nearly a dozen pieces on the political division and upheaval we are experiencing in the United States in this cultural moment. On the eve of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, we gather these pieces here for your reflection, sharing, and journey of faithful response to the election results.

In the spirit of a call to repairing our fractured unity – nationally, but more close to home, within our churches, friend groups, and families – we prayerfully urge you to wrestle with an article or two that moves your soul towards greater love of God and neighbor. Who could benefit from a reading and listening dialogue with you about one of these pieces?

Rise Above: Why Politics Matters, But Not As Much As Your Soul | Derek Vreeland
We Are Not Exiles; We Are Babylon | Seth Richardson
Who Gets the Bigger Share of God’s Love? | MaryKate Morse
Pray Your Rage | Jason Gaboury
Seek the Welfare of the City | Chris Kamalski
What Shall We Do with Our Anger? | Andrew Arndt
Injecting the Tonic of Humility: Could Political Healing Come From An Unexpected Quarter? | Ian McFadden
Politic, Not Party | Jason Barnhart

Awakenings 2025: Free Book Giveaway with Regular Registration!

Our friends at Cultivating Communities have just launched The Shape of Our Lives! To celebrate, they’re giving away free copies to the first 100 people who register for Awakenings 2025 at the regular rate. Register now to snag yours!

Desire, Conviction, Character, Story, Practice, Institution— these six factors are often at work beneath the surface of our lives, impacting how our congregations engage spiritual formation. The Shape of Our Lives gives language to this dynamic, equipping church communities to be shaped – together – more into the image of Christ.

Upcoming Webinar with Mandy Smith - November 20

Taking from her new book, Confessions of an Amateur Saint, Pastor, Author, and Missio Alliance Leading Voice Mandy Smith invites you into the simple practice of raw and honest confession as an act of choosing reliance on God. Learn how to release unhealthy expectations of yourself and ministry. This is an invitation to join and participate with others who are wrestling and choosing to follow and find God at work in surprising ways.

All shall be well

We invite you to sit down, feet gently settled on the floor. Open your hands to God while taking several deep breaths, ultimately closing your eyes.

Pray the familiar words of Julian of Norwich as a breath prayer:

Inhale: All shall be well.

Exhale: All manner of things shall be well.

Repeat as many times as is helpful to you.

We are praying for you, and for peace in this land, and in every land, in this season.

-Missio Alliance