Author Archives: Jan Garrett

Repairers of the Breach

by Jan Garrett Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach; the restorer of streets to live in.  –Isaiah 58:12. If you regularly attend our Sunday Services, you will recognize some of these prophetic phrases. When we sing Hymn … Continued

The Myth of Redeeming Violence

I. Introduction The Myth of Redeeming Violence (MRV) is one of the key premises of a social, cultural, and religious system by now at least five thousand years old. With a little practice it is easy to spot in events of world history, in speeches by present-day politicians, new laws that increase the prison population, … Continued

Heart Land: Where Faiths Connect

UUA General Assembly 2016 on June 22–26 in Columbus, Ohio The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly is the national decision-making body of our democratically organized denomination. This year, it will meet from June 22–26, not far away in Columbus, Ohio. All congregations in good standing have the right to send delegates to help determine … Continued

The Chalice and the Blade

A Discussion of the Ideas of Riane Eisler by Dr. Jan Garrett Presented March 28, 2010 at the Unitarian Univeralist Church of Bowling Green KY Since March is Women’s History Month, it is fitting to devote a program to the ideas of Riane Eisler, one of the most important writers on women’s oppression and human … Continued

Wrestling with God

Presented by Dr. Jan Garrett on May 31, 2009, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bowling Green Kentucky. The idea of religious experience as wrestling with God goes back to the Book of Genesis (32:24-31). Jacob, the grandson of the patriarch Abraham, encounters an angel, presumably sent by God, and wrestles with him. In this … Continued

The Coming Rebirth of the Social Gospel

Presented November 30, 2008 by Dr. Jan Garrett. The Social Gospel is the name of a faith perspective and a historical movement, [originally] within Protestant Christianity in the United States. It emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in the Gilded Age, the era of the Robber Barons, amidst the growing gap between … Continued