Looking into the lectionary - The cross isn't just about guilt and shame

John 20:19-31 Second Sunday of Easter  April 12, 2026 In his book Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner says, “Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.” According to his famous moniker, Doubting Thomas must have had a faith that kept him antsy, awake and moving. However, there is one major problem. Nowhere in this story is Thomas said to be “doubting.” The only two occurrences in the New Testament of the verb meaning to doubt (distazō) are found in Matthew. When Peter was afraid, began to sink in the water, and cried out for Jesus to save him, Jesus reached out, caught him, and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). Most interesting in relation to John’s story is the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where we are told “when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17). Instead of talking to Thomas about doubt, Jesus speaks in terms of belief/unbelief, an important theme throughout John’s Gospel. Immediately after Thomas’s confession of faith in John 20:28 (“My Lord and my God!”) and Jesus’s expansion on that realization in John 20:29 (“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”), John reveals the purpose of his Gospel. ... Thank you to this week's writer, Philip Gladden Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org. Want the worship resources for April 5, 2026? You can find them here.

Order of worship — April 12, 2026 by Philip Gladden   Reflecting on Jesus’ last words and unspoken truths by Ronald Byars Who ordains ruling elders — and why is the PC(USA) revisiting it now? by Christian Dominic Boyd The cross isn’t just about our guilt and shame by Elana Keppel Levy

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Holy Saturday prayer "Help me stay with the transformative tomb./ Help me trust it’s not over," writes Arianne Braithwaite Lehn. How did Christian atonement theory get so pagan? Fred R. Anderson argues that predominate Christian understandings of atonement have been more influenced by culture than the Bible. Why grief platitudes don’t help — and what does Well-meaning words can unintentionally deepen isolation in grief. Mathew Frease explores why platitudes fail and how presence and listening offer something more faithful. A prayer of grief Arianne Braithwaite Lehn invites the Holy Spirit to meet us in grief, reminding us that love, loss, and healing are all held in God’s grace. Reality TV and Lent: What ANTM reveals about complicity Lent invites honest self-examination — not just of personal sin, but communal harm. Katrina Pekich-Bundy explores what "America’s Next Top Model" reveals about complicity, silence and repentance. Revisiting “Once to Every Man and Nation”  Michele Minter recounts an old, but timely, soundtrack for our divisive times. How the U.S. can help protect persecuted Christians in Burma Churches destroyed. Pastors detained. Communities displaced. The crisis facing Christians in Burma demands more than concern — it calls for sustained U.S. action. —  David Thang Moe, Robin Stoops and Zo Tum Hmung Co-Moderators announce the names of committee leaders for the 227th General Assembly ‘We were moved by the quality and depth of the applications we received’ says the Rev. CeCe Armstrong. — PNS Progressive faith leaders found new power in protesting ICE. Can their movement survive success? Not since the Civil Rights Era has the religious left so publicly and collaboratively protested in the name of a social question they regard as a spiritual one. — RNS In a moment when empathy is often misunderstood — and sometimes dismissed as weakness — “On the Road to Empathy” invites churches to return to Scripture and rediscover empathy as a deeply Christian practice.

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WCC news: “Cuba offers a prophetic witness to the global church,” says WCC general secretary

“Our presence among you is a reminder that you are not alone,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay during an ecumenical service held at the Episcopal Cathedral of Havana on 29 March.  Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, General Secretary of the WCC, delivers his sermon during the ecumenical service in Havana on 29 March. Photo: Panchito González/Prensa Latina 30 March 2026 The service took place during a visit by global ecumenical leaders expressing solidarity with the Cuban people amid ongoing internal and external challenges. In his address, Pillay pointed to the global context of conflict and instability, noting that “a simple look at what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Colombia, Iran, and many other parts of the world shows that thousands are dying, and no one seems able to stop these senseless killings.”  He underscored the failure of political leadership to halt violence and raised concerns about the erosion of respect for international law, state sovereignty, human dignity, and the sanctity of life. Pillay further warned that reliance on war, violence, and military force as instruments of peace continues to undermine global stability and reiterated the longstanding position of ecumenical organizations that dialogue, rather than violence, remains the only viable path toward lasting peace. Reflecting on current global realities, Pillay described a world marked by diminishing hope, widespread suffering, and deepening poverty. Within this context, he highlighted Cuba’s resilience as offering a meaningful perspective on the hope of the resurrection. “In Cuba, daily life is shaped by economic hardship, shortages of essential goods, limited opportunities, and uncertainty about the future,” he said. “Yet the church lives not in abundance, but in faith; not in security, but in trust. The hope of the resurrection emerges not from favorable circumstances, but from encounter with the living Christ.” Drawing on the biblical example of Martha, Pillay noted that Cuban Christians embody a lived experience of waiting, struggle, and questioning, while maintaining hope. He also acknowledged the social and economic pressures facing the country, commending the church’s continued commitment to accompaniment and solidarity with the people. “Cuba offers a prophetic witness to the global church,” Pillay stated. “It reminds us that hope does not depend on abundance, faith does not require certainty, and resurrection does not wait for perfect conditions. Rather, it is revealed in the midst of scarcity, struggle, and adversity.” He concluded by posing a broader challenge to the international community: whether belief in the resurrection is limited to times of comfort, or whether it extends to the most difficult realities. “If Christ has been raised in Cuba, then Christ has been raised everywhere,” he affirmed. Among those in attendance were Salvador Valdés Mesa, member of the Political Bureau and vice president of the Republic; Yuniaski Crespo Baquero, head of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee; and other party and government representatives. The service reaffirmed international ecumenical accompaniment with Cuba and its churches in challenging times and underscored a shared commitment to continued work for service, justice, and peace. Photo gallery Ecumenical delegation to visit Cuba as humanitarian crisis deepens (WCC news release, 27 March 2026) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC News: Prayer: we enter Holy Week, “knowing that we are not alone”

A morning prayer for World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and visitors at the Ecumenical Centre on 30 March was organized in partnership with the Old Catholic World Communion. 23 October 2025, Wadi El Natrun, Egypt: Rev. Prof. Dr Angela Berlis of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht pictured at the World Council of Churches Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order taking place 24-28 October 2025 in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, around the theme “Where now for visible unity?” Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 30 March 2026 Prof. Dr Angela Berlis, full professor for History of Old Catholicism and Church History, co-director of the Centre of Competence in Liturgy at the University of Berne, and member of the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC, offered a reflection on John 12: 1-8.  “So today (the day after Palm Sunday), we take a step back and return once more from Jerusalem to Bethany, where we join Jesus at the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary in Bethany,” she said. “There, a dinner is held in Jesus’ honor.” Berlis described how the meal is very festive and that Jesus then also receives a gift—a completely unexpected gift in a completely unexpected way: Mary pours an entire flask of nard oil over his feet and massages them with her hair. “What an expensive product!” Berlis said. “But also: What an intense scent must have filled the air after Mary poured the oil over Jesus’ feet. So much oil, so much drama!” And then Mary uses her hair to massage his feet and rub the oil in. “As listeners, we don’t yet know that this is an act that has two interpretations and two interpreters, by Judas and by Jesus: Judas, the money-minded man, who thinks only of the price,” said Berlis. “And Jesus, who interprets this as an anointing for death, an anointing for the death that is to come very soon.” Nard essential oil is said to possess a powerful calming effect; the oil has a soothing effect, especially in stressful situations, and helps alleviate anxiety and cope with difficult circumstances.  “Nard oil is therefore far more beneficial to the living than to the dead!” noted Berlis. “Through her action, Mary anoints Jesus and thus prepares him for the final stage of his life.” The story of the anointing makes it clear: Jesus walks toward his destiny with open eyes, continued Berlis.  “Let us, too, enter this Holy Week as those who know, as those who await, as those who are loved: knowing that we are not alone, in the expectation that God’s promise will be revealed to us; anointed by the oil that enables us to walk and master this path and every path in our lives as those who are loved,” Berlis said. In addition to Berlis, the prayer was prepared and led by Pfarrer Christoph Schuler, and Pfv. Ilya Kaplan. Berndt Wallet, archbishop of Utrecht, also took part in the prayer and shared his greetings. With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle this week we pray for the churches and people of Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. Learn more about the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC NEWS: Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem: “Death did not have the final word”

In an Easter message, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem offered words of hope amid turmoil. File Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 30 March 2026 “Each passing day has brought increasingly fierce escalations—a relentless cycle of death, destruction, and frightful suffering that now ripples across the globe in rising economic hardship,” reads the message. “From the blackened smoke of this expanding wreckage, a deep darkness has engulfed our region, as stifling as the air inside the sealed tomb of the crucified Christ.” But the desolation of the tomb was not the end of the story, the message notes. “Death did not have the final word,” the text reads. “By the power of God, Christ rose victorious from the grave, bursting the bonds of sin and death.” The message also bids the faithful and all those of goodwill to work and pray ceaselessly for the relief of the countless multitudes throughout the Middle East and beyond who are suffering severely from the ravages of war. “Likewise, we appeal to them to advocate and intercede for an immediate end to the bloodshed and for justice and peace to finally prevail throughout our war-torn region, beginning in Jerusalem and extending to Gaza, Lebanon, and all the Holy Land; to the Gulf States and Tehran; and to the ends of the earth,” reads the message. Easter Message 2026 - Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland