It seems we human beings love having a scapegoat…someone to blame when things go wrong, when tension arises in our communities, or when we come a little too close to our own discomfort.
But what if we subverted that narrative? What if our inclusiveness of the other became so radical that we could undo our sacrifice of others and create the kind of unlikely relationships that come from Jesus’ ethos of loving our neighbors and our enemies?
This week at New Wineskins we’ll continue our Lenten journey “From Pain to Possibility” with a discussion video featuring Catholic priest, author, and LGBTQ+ activist James Alison talking about how the Eucharist subverts the scapegoat mechanism and the perpetuation of a system that sacrifices the other to preserve the false security of the self.
We hope you’ll join us this Sunday, March 30, in the Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom as we discuss the ways we can begin to break down our tendencies to scapegoat others and build our communities around a more Christlike attitude of inclusion.
6:00pm ET: Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time)
6:30pm ET: Presentation & conversation begin
Check out this week’s discussion video!
Click here to view this week’s discussion video on The Work of the People (email address required, no subscription necessary)
Lent 2025: From Pain to Possibility
This year for Lent, our community is tracing our collective journey from pain to possibility through a video series from The Work of the People featuring the voices of a diverse collection of leaders and theologians.
All five discussion videos are available for viewing until April 20 through TWOTP’s stream share feature. To access the videos you will need to provide your email address when prompted. No subscription is necessary.
Simply click the links or images below to view each week’s video.
March 16: Infinitely Trustworthy with James Finley
March 23: Pain & Marching with Peter Block & Walter Brueggeman
March 30: Subversion from Within with James Alison
April 6: Pain to Possibility with Marlon Hall
April 13: Healing Justice with Dr. Roberto Henderson-Espinoza, Jennifer Bailey, and Mickey ScottBey
Coalfield Assistance Remains Critical
On February 15, 2025, destructive flooding struck many of the coalfield counties of West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and western Virginia. Cleanup and the road to recovery will be long. If you’d like to help financially, please give to any of the entities listed in the graphic above, or donate through West Virginia United Methodist Disaster Response at this link: https://wvumc.brtapp.com/page/donate/disaster-response-ministries (image courtesy From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice)
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