Year: 1999

Marjory Zoet Bankson: Realities from the Circle

Peter Bankson

December 26, 1999

That Luke included a man and a woman here tells us something about his image of God, "male and female" as Genesis puts it. Simeon speaks directly to Mary, thereby stretching tradition and Anna is associated with the Temple, a clear reversal of roles that traditionally would have made that the prerogative of male priests. Instead of the Temple hierarchy, we have two lay people, a man and a woman, offering God's word to Mary, Joseph and the others gathered round. Luke seems to be telling us that God's way breaks through the usual patterns of power.

 

Read More

Pat Conover: The Advent of Justice

Peter Bankson

December 12, 1999

Most of you know that I have spent my career in the United Church of Christ working on economic justice within the United States so you may be surprised that I am talking about poverty and development in a global context. Part of the reason is that I have recently been assigned the task of helping the UCC begin to do more of its justice work within a global perspective. I have been putting a lot of energy into a conference that will address the issues of global economic integration as they affect farming and ranching.

 

Read More

Dave and Jackie McMakin: Good Seed for the Future

Peter Bankson

December 05, 1999

We spent six weeks in Guatemala this fall, five studying Spanish. Jackie moved from a five to a six on a scale of ten. Being linguistically impaired, I moved from a zero to maybe a one. Nevertheless, we learned a lot more than language. There are rare occasions when both the combination of need and a key person to address the need coincide. Doing interesting things is not enough. Having a vision to really make a difference for the future matters.

 

Read More