Weekly Outlook - 'No one wants to rock the lifeboat'

Dear Outlook readers,  My first boyfriend's name was Jack. Was that because I was 13 and had recently watched "Titanic" for the first time (featuring not one but two VHS tapes)? Perhaps! I did love hearing Leonardo DiCaprio calling my name. While my middle school relationship, sadly, did not stand up to the fictional love of Jack and Rose, other aspects of the movie stuck.  For instance, I pictured the final, devastating images of "Titanic's" lifeboats when reading Sue Krummel's article "No one wants to rock the lifeboat." Krummel, a presbytery leader, thinks about the purpose of a lifeboat as a metaphor for modern churches being conflict-averse. "Are we stuck in our lifeboats, doing everything we can to keep them from rocking? In so doing, are we making them into something they were never intended to be?" she writes.  Perhaps the secret to moving forward to new life and solid land is to ask "Why?" diligently, she writes. Maybe it's time to do things a new way and embrace change as the Holy Spirit's active movement rather than the harbinger of doom.  In Christ, Rose Schrott Taylor Outlook digital content editor

‘No one wants to rock the lifeboat’ by Sue Krummel Being a mustard-seed church by Whitney Wilkinson Arreche. Navigating conflicts in congregations by Lesley Anne Earles and Debra J. Mumford  Politics and grief by Eileen Campbell-Reed In case you missed it... I was made for this "It feels like resurrection." Small church member Beth Bradshaw reflects on the ups and downs of attending a church in a small town. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Fred Rogers Institute offer fellowship in theology and ministry A new fellowship honors the theological and educational areas of Fred Rogers’ legacy providing tools for parents, caregivers, congregations, and non-profit organizations. — PTS Lil Nas X marks comeback in controversial fashion with ‘J Christ’ Famous musician Lil Nas X is making his “comeback” to music by paying homage to Jesus. The single, “J Christ,” and its music video are saturated with over-the-top, “scandalous” religious images, generating a controversy. — Religion Unplugged Straddling the care gap: Why Christians must think beyond self-sacrifice to support caregivers Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty explores the contemporary context of caregiving and how the church can support caregivers. Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition" "This book may help congregations that are far, far away from the sale of their church property avoid this seemingly inevitable fate." — Beth Guzman