Posted by Rev. David on June 27, 2012
Oh Lord, Is this really where we are? A man once said, “I believe, but help my unbelief”. I’m not sure I ever understood, until I myself had to cry out to you, Is this really where we are, oh Lord. Are we really as far from the Kingdom of God as it sometimes seems? [...]
Categories: Equality, liberal faith, Prophetic Voice
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Tags: activism, Birmingham Jail, Christian, Equality, faith, hope, Jesus, justice, lament, liberal faith, Maricopa Jail, military chaplain, prayer, Prophetic Voice, psalm, psalmist, Spiritual Practice, standing on the side of love, theology
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Posted by Rev. David on March 30, 2012
One of the aspects of a Clinical Pastoral Education Residency that was most valuable to me was spending a year with ministers from other religious traditions, being required to have deep discussions about theology, about pastoral care, and about our life experiences. It not only helped me to broaden my own horizon, but it also [...]
Categories: liberal faith, theology
| Tags: book, Christian, David Pyle, faith, God, good and evil, hope, justice, liberal, liberal christian systemic theology, liberal faith, nature of god, religion, Rev. Pyle, Spiritual Practice, systemic theology, theology, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU systemic theology, write a book
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Posted by Rev. David on December 5, 2011
Unitarian Universalists are almost always surprised when they see me wearing the Christian Cross on my Army Chaplain uniform. Perhaps they should not be, given the Christian ancestry of our two founding denominations, but they are. Reactions have ranged from mild curiosity to outrage to some deep pastoral need. On several occasions, those reactions have [...]
Categories: ecclesiology, Military, Military Chaplaincy, Ministry, UU Movement
| Tags: chalice, chaplain, chaplain symbol, Christian, cross, David Pyle, faith, flaming chalice, Jesus, liberal, liberal faith, Military, military chaplain symbol, Ministry, religion, soldier, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, uu chapalin, UU Military
| 9 comments
Posted by Rev. David on November 24, 2011
On this day, Thanksgiving Day, I think we are remembering the wrong message. I think our society has taken the wrong meaning from the mythologized story of starving pilgrims, a coming hard winter, and Native Americans who shared. We give thanks to God, or to some sense of the Universe taking care of us for [...]
Categories: God, History, Turnings
| Tags: American, Christian, compassion, faith, indians, justice, meaning, meaning of thanksgiving, native americans, native peoples, pilgrims, relationship, responsibility, thanksgiving, thanksgiving indian, thanksgiving tribe, theology, tribes, wampanoag
| 2 comments
Posted by Rev. David on November 7, 2011
My dear friend, Chaplain the Rev. Seanan Holland visited us this weekend, and as usual he and I got into one of our hours-long rolling discussions about Life, the Universe, and Everything. This time in particular, we were rolling around the origin and nature of religion, the fundamental flaw in Friedman Economics, a mathematical definition [...]
Categories: Faith, God, History, liberal faith
| Tags: Christian, faith, fear, fear of death, fear of humans, fear of nature, fear of people, fear of uncertainity, four great fears, fundamentalism, great fear, History, Jesus, liberal, liberal faith, liberalism, meaning of religion, politics, relationship, religion, religious fear, responsibility, theology, types of religion, war
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Posted by Rev. David on August 1, 2011
Last week and this week, I have been attending some military chaplaincy training in San Antonio Texas, as a part of my continuing education as both a UU Minister and an Army Reserve Chaplain. The first week was a wonderful course, put on by the Rev. Dr. Chrys Parker and the Rev. Dr. Glenn Sammis [...]
Categories: God, liberal faith, Ministry, theology
| Tags: Christ, Christ substance, Christian, Christology, faith, God, Jesus, liberal faith, messiah, Military, military chaplain, Ministry, nature of Christ, nature of Jesus, theology, Unitarian, UU Military
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Posted by Rev. David on March 9, 2011
I regularly have conversations with conservatives, both political and religious conservatives. Sometimes that is through my work as an Army Chaplain, sometimes through my work as a liberal minister in a fairly conservative town, and sometimes it is through people from my past who seek me out to ask me the question… “what happened? How [...]
Categories: History, politics, Turnings
| Tags: activism, becoming a liberal, becoming a progressive, Bosnia, Christian, conservative, conservativism, faith, fear, God, History, hope, Jesus, journey, justice, liberal, liberal faith, liberal to conservative, liberalism, politics, progressivism, Prophetic Voice, relationship, religion, responsibility, transition, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, UU
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Posted by Rev. David on November 12, 2010
Recently I received a letter from a fellow Unitarian Universalist who is very concerned by incidents and attitudes he perceives among some military chaplains, where they seem to understand themselves as “government-paid missionaries for Christ”. The letter details some of his own research into the issue of some chaplains who view the military as a [...]
Categories: Military, Military Chaplaincy, Ministry, Patriotism, Prophetic Voice, Religious Freedom
| Tags: Christian, Evangelism, justice, liberal faith, Military, military chaplain, Ministry, religion, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Universalist, UU Military
| 2 comments
Posted by Rev. David on June 19, 2010
The committment to remain open on the issues before this General assembly, and why I really go to GA…
Categories: General Assembly, Military, Ministry, Social Engagement, UU Movement
| Tags: activism, Christian, faith, GA, General Assembly, justice, liberal, Military, military chaplain, Ministry, peacemaking, Statement of Conscience, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalist, UU, UU Military
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Posted by Rev. David on June 4, 2010
What does it mean when someone calls a minister “Reverend”? Is it an honorific, or is it perhaps something else. Not an academic question for me anymore…
Categories: Ministry, Reflection on Quotes, Turnings, UU Movement
| Tags: Christian, David Pyle, faith, liberal faith, Ministry, religion, responsibility, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist
| 6 comments
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