Articles about Advent language, ordination, and new books

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** It’s that time of year
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The Christmas season means many different things to different people. For many, Advent is a rich spiritual stretch of reflection and waiting. For others, it is a stressful ball of chaos marked by last-minute shopping and big family gatherings. Or perhaps a difficult time of loneliness and grief, or a magical celebration of hope and cheer. For the unlucky few—and here I will accept your prayers and your pity—it is a 24/7 cycle of made-for-TV romantic movies.

We have new content suited for this complicated season. Our managing editor Steve Thorngate writes about Advent songwriting and addresses the dilemma about whether to use liturgical language of light and darkness ([link removed]) . For those who still have shopping to do, books make great gifts, and we have new reviews of some fascinating books: one about the gender of God (and Jesus) ([link removed]) , and one that uses visual art to explore queerness in a rural Mennonite community ([link removed]) .

The video of the week is about another new article. Elizabeth Felicetti chats with me about ordination ([link removed]) —how it has played out for one incarcerated aspirant, and what that situation might reveal about ordination more broadly. (Also make sure to read her article ([link removed]) !)

Email me: How are you feeling about this year’s Advent/Christmas season?

Jon Mathieu
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Editors%E2%80%99%20Picks)
This week’s top articles:
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** Should we avoid liturgical language of light and dark? ([link removed])
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“I found myself tiptoeing up to the language of light and darkness and then stopping short of using it—I was trying to write around the problem, to have it both ways.”
by Steve Thorngate
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** The gender identity of God—and Jesus ([link removed])
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“Amy Peeler’s book is an intensely footnoted study of all things women, the church, and who God is.”
review by Jamie A. Richardson
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** Elizabeth Felicetti on ordination (of incarcerated people) ([link removed])
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Priest and writer Elizabeth Felicetti chats about the ordination discernment of Luke, an incarcerated man, and about the flaws of ordination processes more broadly. Can the church truly extend forgiveness for past crimes?
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** In the Lectionary for December 11 (Advent 3A) ([link removed])
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John the Baptist is not sure if Jesus is very Christlike.

by Montague Williams

Advent 3A archives ([link removed])
Get even more lectionary resources with Sunday’s Coming Premium, an email newsletter from the editors of the Christian Century. Learn more ([link removed]) .
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** Loving Twitter and leaving it ([link removed])
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“I would explain Twitter’s appeal like this: imagine a worldwide cocktail party for people who are bad at cocktail parties.”

by Benjamin J. Dueholm


** Jonathan Dyck’s queer Mennonite graphic novel ([link removed])
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“Shelterbelts illuminates the faithful practices and queries of a rural community in Manitoba as its members grapple with their histories and identities.”
review by Annabeth Roeschley
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