Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

church history

  • On John and his specialness

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    5 min read

    In celebrating the Feast of St. John, we are invited into an elaborate depiction of faith which combines multiple figures into one.

  • One — seeking unity in the midst of division

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    1 min read

    Our understanding of unity is predicated on ideas Jesus seems to reject. Which certainly makes our work more interesting.

  • Epiphany is just the beginning

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    1 min read

    Epiphany is an ancient feast, one of the earliest feasts of the church. But it has long lived a double life.

  • Why I Confess – Empire

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    12 min read

    Confronting the truth about our people is hard. Especially when the truth is about the evil of empire, oppression, and persecution. But that’s no excuse to avoid or deflect–we must engage with it. Arrogance and dealing with the enduring terror of empire “Anglicans persecuted everybody.” I felt my body squirm. The hairs on the back…

  • In the Joys and the Junk

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    7 min read

    6. Through all the great upheavals in history, God has been with the people. The quintessential question of the confused is to ask “Where is God?” In the midst of tragedy, we ask it. “Where is God?” The presupposition of the question is that God isn’t there. But why? Because we first define God as the…

  • Playing It Safe Cost the Church It’s Faith – a review of ‘Empire Baptized’

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    11 min read

    When I first picked up Empire Baptized: How the Church Embraced What Jesus Rejected by Wes Howard-Brook, I found myself sharing its insights immediately. I would walk into the next room and just start in: “Did you know?” I peppered my Thursday Eucharists with reflections and Facebook with random quotes. It was the physical proof…