Yes, I'm a minister. No, I don't have a church.

This was first spoken in chapel at the Presbyterian Center on May 11, 2016. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. Studies show we are, in our political landscape, increasingly polarized in our beliefs. A cursory review of social media reveals many of us are speaking different languages, listening to argue, speaking past each other. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. We have regional dialects, turns of phrase that not everyone understands. “Might could” is a southern-ism that wouldn’t pass muster in the Pacific Northwest. There, it would make no grammatical sense whatsoever. In the south, it makes perfect sense. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. We have a few dominant narratives in the wind of mainline Protestantism these days. One narrative claims the reign of God is inbreaking, increased diversity of worship and worshiping communities, a shift f...

This post is based on the talk I gave on a call of the Women of Color in Ministry Project on April 8, 2016. Solidarity is biblical 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 
If one member of Christ’s body suffers, all suffer.  If one member is honored, all rejoice. Matthew 5:21-24 
 Be reconciled to one another before coming to the altar. I Peter 4:8-10 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Meanings of solidarity In the Christian world, there is a tradition of solidarity. US Conference of Catholic Bishops  shares the following Catholic social teaching on solidarity: [Solidarity] is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the...

This blog post was originally written for and posted in Unbound . Racism kills. It dehumanizes us all, telling some of us we are less than human and rendering others of us incapable of having a decent conversation about it. It takes our best intentions and misshapes them beyond recognition; no matter what we do or what we mean to do, we move and breathe and live within laws and a cultural reality that is racist. But the one good thing racism has given me is Asian America. Asian America is a social construct, not a biological one. It is a legal category I fall into by virtue of nothing more than my mother’s ancestors. No person from Asia shows up in the U.S. and automatically feels linked to people from other Asian countries. Asian American identity isn’t about rice, although I’ve joked about this before. People of many races eat rice, and even rice within Asian American communities has great diversity. It isn’t about any food or flavor, really, which means any dish or dressing ...

The text below comes from an interactive keynote presentation I gave at the Presbytery of Los Ranchos "Mission Connections: Listening to All Voices" event on February 6, 2016. Introduction Greetings from Louisville, KY and greetings on behalf of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, one of the six agencies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) . I work with the denominational publisher, home of the Glory to God hymnal , and the Feasting on the Word commentary series. We are completely self-sustaining, a medium-sized religious publisher, better known by our major imprint Westminster John Knox Press . My name is Laura Mariko Cheifetz. Cheifetz is my family name, from my Polish-Ukrainian-Lithuanian Jewish family members who fled persecution in Eastern Europe over 100 years ago. If you know my parents, serving in San Francisco Presbytery, you know that I pronounce our name differently. I have no tattoos or body piercings and never snuck out at night to joyride or get high. I...

I was really mad about racism today, and reminded that we are all more than our worst moments (derived from Sister Helen Prejean's ministry and work). Some folks thought this liturgy was pretty good, so I'm posting it in case anyone else wants to use it. 
 MLK Worship January 20, 2016 Presbyterian Center Chapel Original by Laura M. Cheifetz, and quoted text from from Great Thanksgiving H in the Book of Common Worship (and also Scripture) 
 Invitation 
 Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God. They have come from east and west, from north and south. They came in great joy and with great suffering. They were invaded, colonized, abducted, trafficked to generate wealth for others, their governments overthrown so that others might profit, their lands stolen from them and their children. They are the ones who spread suffering throughout the world, colonizers, invaders, traffickers, and enslavers, overthrowing governments for their own small-minded desires...

This post was originally published on ecclesio.com in November 2015. No one political party has ever, in the history of politics in the U.S., attained a clean record when it comes to race and racism. In the United States, race-baiting during elections is not restricted to one political party, despite one party increasingly identified with white voters and the other identified as more friendly to most people of color groups (see for yourself: http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/07/a-deep-dive-into-party-affiliation/ ). Living into white supremacy is something every presidential candidate does, whether it is for political expediency or an actual belief held by that candidate. Just listen to what candidates say about the U.S. relationship with China, and you’ll hear the shades of yellow peril slipping out. Neither major party is known to be particularly responsive to the concerns of people of color, although the Congress did Native Americans and immigrants a solid with the 201...