Posted by Rev. David on October 26, 2012
When I was at the U.S. Army Chaplain’s School at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, there was a day in class that we were responding to hypothetical counseling situations. One of the scenarios presented to us was that of a young woman who came to us for counseling after having been raped. She did not know [...]
Categories: God, liberal faith, Military Chaplaincy, politics, theology
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Tags: abortion, chaplain, conservative christian, conservative christianity, faith, fundamentalist, fundamentalist christianity, God, Jesus, justice, liberal faith, military chaplain, mourdock, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, politics, Prophetic Voice, rape, theology
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4 comments
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
| 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
| No comments
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 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
| 5 comments
Posted by Rev. David on July 2, 2011
I think this topic is becoming a regular 4th of July weekend tradition of mine, mainly because I have had it with the idea that unless someone is a Fox News watching, gun toting Tea-Party Republican they are not a “Real American”. Beyond the fact that such definitions of “Real American” often do not include [...]
Categories: God, liberal faith, Military, Patriotism, politics, Prophetic Voice, Religious Freedom
| Tags: chaplain, David Pyle, faith, Jesus, liberal, liberal faith, liberalism, Michelle Bachmann, Military, military chaplain, Ministry, Patriotism, politics, Prophetic Voice, religion, Rep. Akin, Rep. Bachmann, Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Rep. Todd Akin, soldier, tea-party, Todd Akin, unitairan, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU church Midland, UU Military, UUA, UUFOM
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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 March 6, 2010
If there is anything that makes some of my fellow Unitarian Universalists more uncomfortable than my military past and probably future, it is my willingness to call myself, both in public and from the pulpit, a Christian. I remember one day in particular that a parishioner in my internship congregation came up to me after [...]
Categories: God, Inspiration, Ministry, theology
| Tags: Chrisitan theology, Christ, Christian, Christian faith, David Pyle theology, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, theology, Unitarian Christian, Unitarian Universalist Christian, Universalist Christian, UU Christ, UU Christian, UU's for Jesus
| 8 comments
Posted by Rev. David on October 4, 2009
It has been said that how we express the chosen faith of our adulthood greatly depends on attitudes and concepts that hold deep meaning for us as children. We often form our adult faiths in rejection of those childhood forms, or we transform them into new and deeper meanings. The roots of what, how, and [...]
Categories: God, Principles and Purposes, Prophetic Voice, theology, Worship
| Tags: Buddha, holy ghost, holy spirit, Jesus, pentecostal, pentecostal Unitarian, pentecostal universalist, pentecostal UU, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalist, Universalist
| 5 comments
Posted by Rev. David on February 5, 2009
Recently in an email someone said to me that they were still a “lamb of God”, even though they were working through some issues in their faith. As Jacob once did, they have been “wrestling with God”. I remember the metaphor “be ye lambs of God”. I remember those words written above a painting of [...]
Categories: God, Ministry, theology
| Tags: belief, bible, Christian, faith, God, hope, Jesus, lamb, lamb of God, relationship with God, Unitarian Universalist
| 2 comments
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