Sermons, Messages, and other Writings by the Rev. Erik Christensen
It's time to expand our ideas about sanctuary. We’re not talking about hiding behind our church walls. We’re talking about taking to the streets, showing our holy outrage at the ways we are dehumanizing each other, and ourselves in the process.
It felt like church, even though it was just chairs in a crowded room and a succession of strangers behind a microphone. It felt like church. A ritual in which we each have a role, using stories and sacraments, wine and bread or a drink from the bar, to point to a reality we each inhabit but rarely stop to reflect upon. Questions drawn from first person experience and offered to one another: Why do we hurt one another? How do I live after a death? Where do I belong?
On Sunday, March 20, 2016 members of Kimball Avenue Church, Nuestra Señora de las Americas, and St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square met for worship at Diversey River Bowl before a joint procession with palms to the rally for public housing at Lathrop Homes. At that worship service Pastors Liz Muñoz, Bruce Ray, and Erik Christensen team preached a sermon on Luke 19:28-48, drawing parallels between Jesus's dramatic entry into Jerusalem, lament for the city, and disruption of Temple commerce with the planned action for public housing planned by the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance (LSEA).
By Proclamation 