Inspirations Blog
A multimedia collection of stories, learnings, reflections, and resources from the people and ministries of Juniper Formation.
Expectancy: A baby, a new church, and new ministries!
Keith and I are excited to share with you that we are expecting a baby boy sometime around July 7th!As a new church start founder about to go on parental leave, I am excited to invite our team of lay and staff leaders to fully take over soon! ... This year has been filled with expectancy around our baby, the birth of Juniper Formation as a church, and new ministries like ReFrame and our monthly Gatherings. Keep reading for invitations to join us in celebrating all three of these “births.”
4th Week of Lent: I've Decided to Choose Freedom
We’ve released worship music videos with lyrics for each song on the “Speak Boldly” album by Jenny LaJoye. You can find these worship music videos on our Juniper Formation YouTube Channel, and more easily in this “Speak Boldly” YouTube playlist.
Together We Will Gather
When you attend a Juniper Formation Gathering, you are an active participant in yours and others’ faith formation and spiritual life. Every time we gather, we are building faithful relationships with one another and God. As a “priesthood of all believers” our faith community is made up of movement leaders and people in ministry…
Ash Wednesday: Divine Dust & Ash into Oil Home Ritual
We offer you this liturgy of musical meditation, ritual, blessing, scripture, dance, and prayer that you can experience by yourself or in the company of your household.
The Lingering Implications of Christ's Birth: A Christmas Day Reflection
Our Christmas day reflection is offered by Minister Javon Bracy, Juniper Formation Leadership Team and Spiritual Well Ministry Team member. Minister Bracy reflects on the lingering implications of Christ's birth.
Support Prophetic, Transformative Ministry
I have cried so much this year. How about you? Not all my tears have been of frustration and grief. Some tears bear joyful witness to the movement of the Holy Spirit. Most recently, tears rolled down my cheek during our last monthly Leadership Team meeting as staff and leadership team members offered end-of-year blessings…
Joy & Faith: We're becoming a church!
This week’s Advent reflection is offered by Rev. Morgan Fletcher, Juniper Formation’s Leadership Team Chair. She reflects on the joy and faith of becoming a church.
Beholding Peace
Behold what’s written in the dirt,
The word out on the streets
The quiet, and the other, and the
Tattered mystery.
Strange and holy angels spreading Heaven with their feet
Behold these signs of [hope/peace/joy/love],
Don’t be afraid,
Behold; take heed.
Revealing Hope
Hope is a direction. It is the moment we see what is possible and what is probable. It is equal parts imagination, adventure, and determination. It is seeing a great light, but also following it.
Join Us for Advent
As the skies darken we might imagine ourselves in the growing space of the Creator’s womb, journeying alongside the birth of Jesus. Growing and preparing ourselves, with hope, faith and joy, love, and justice and peace.
There is so much that is possible if we are willing to listen for and follow the Holy Spirit in our lives, even during a holiday season that seems less festive, more isolating, and filled with more grieving than years past.
Jesus was capital "P" Political
The most Political aspect of Jesus' life and ministry is that people followed him in large numbers. The development of a powerful discipleship threatened the status quo.
Developing Sustainable and Relational Antiracism Practices (Part 1)
Let us not forget that we belong to one another, and “rekindle the gift of God that is within you…for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and love and of self discipline. (2 Timothy 1:6-7). After the murder of George Floyd…
Sunday Supremacy: The Devil is in the Details
Don't be afraid to ask for what you need—or even what you want.But when what you think you need and want come at the cost of others' lives, you are no longer acting in faith.
This is the evil of supremacy, lurking inside, convincing you that you are more important, worthy, and powerful than another child of God.
The Power of Naming Spiritual Gifts In One Another
"Understanding our spiritual gifts is about knowing and experiencing ourselves as sacred. We are active participants in relationship to our God who works with, through, and among us. It is a relationship of integration, not reprobation. We are insiders, not outsiders to the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts matter, because they are how we relate to God through one another."
What Does the Holy Spirit Feel Like?
...These are not textbook definitions of how the scripture or theologians describe the Holy Spirit, although they rightly could be. These are the real life experiences of the Holy Spirit from everyday Christians. The Creator’s Truth abiding in each one of them. This is the Holy Spirit alive in the progressive Church...
Confessional Relationship Blessed with Ash and Oil
...Christ invites us to journey through the ash together—not retain our sin or remain in our grief. This process of moving through the ash requires our small faith to grow larger, demands that we know and accept ourselves as sacred, and expects us to use our gifts and talents to be healers within our relationships to one another, and especially with the stranger...