Matt Comer

In the 1840s, Baptists nationally united under the Triennial Convention decided slaveholders could not be ordained missionaries.

Slaveholding Baptists in the South left and formed the Southern Baptist Convention.

This post is not about slaveholding Southern Baptists in the 1840s.

The contrast couldn't be clearer when examining the words and deeds of many Christians who have exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served a politics of power, privilege, oppression, and violence.

I don't have time to witness the Walk for Peace monks in Charlotte today, but I commend them on their journey. They are inspiring thousands as they paint a powerful picture of a truly Christ-like posture.

"Servant leadership" is just a buzzword until you're the one breaking a sweat carrying boxes for event setup, staying late to fold chairs after the event, or doing the next-day post-event data entry. Leadership is 10% vision or platform and 90% service and administrative work.

I grew up with pastors and Sunday school teachers repeatedly telling me to "be in the world, not of the world." Years later they've all fallen prey to a hyperpartisan world of outrage, fear, and bigotry, swapping Jesus for a politics of division and in the process hurting both themselves and others.

You won't find much good news online, but there is Good News happening all around us, all the time.

- for the safety and health of my family after their car wreck earlier this week
- for a small but meaningful ministry win + community building
- for the privilege I have in working for a church that truly cares, and is immediately responding to an urgent need for a family in our broader community

Amidst a wearying drumbeat of bad news, I'm starting this Friday with gratitude:

If the world feels very heavy right now, you're not alone and you're not wrong. That feeling you have to want to solve it all, to take away the pain and hurt: that just makes you human. Take deep breaths. Pray. Find time to rest. Find and build community. We're in this together.

I do the work I do now so that every LGBTQ can honestly and authentically seek after God in places where their gifts will be respected and their life of faith lovingly discipled.
4/4

It took five years before I was ready to join as member, but this is where my adult faith has been formed, my ministry calling has come into focus, where I was married last October.
3/4

When you're a gay kid raised in an independent, fundamentalist Baptist tradition, you learn quick that you can't just blindly trust any ol' church.
2/4

Fourteen years ago today, I attended my first worship service at my now-home church in Charlotte. I'd made a New Year resolution to get back into church, after years of intermittent church shopping. St. John's had been waiting for me the entire time.
1/4

Thanks for the tip; I'll try reading up on it and seeing if there's a work around!

It's been a hot minute since I've regularly used Bluesky, but I'm hopping back in as I brew up some writing projects this year. I'd love to connect more and follow fellow progressive/moderate Baptists, LGBTQ Christians, and folks from Charlotte, North Carolina, and the larger South.

Hey Jay! Something with the BBC has changed, or else I'm just missing something. I don't think I can listen to the Daily Service in the U.S. anymore, at least not through the BBC's website. This makes me very sad!

Armed officers of a pseudomilitary government agency specifically trained to turn against and target the people living and working under its jurisdiction is never a good idea, is a sign of democratic backsliding, and will always inevitably lead to fatal consequences. Abolish ICE.

Moving to Charlotte in 2007, I was just a blogger-turned-rookie journalist with a laptop. I didn’t know then that this city would become the place where I’d find my voice, my calling, my husband, and a life rich with meaning and purpose. The Queen City isn't perfect, but it is home.

The world has enough bad news, worming its way into our feeds with messages that belittle and demean or frighten and intimidate. We can choose to be the difference, even if in small ways: be the safe, affirming, joy-enhancing presence someone needs in their day today. 2/2

I saw a TikTok post this morning of a 20-something trans creator explaining the emotional and spiritual toll the world has taken recently. There's nothing scarier than seeing the light and joy in someone else's eyes start to dim. 1/2

We choose every day...
in our actions and inaction,
in our words and in our silence...
to reveal to the world around us something about the nature of what and in whom we believe.

Epiphany is a season of revelation and manifestation, and as Christians living in the world today we, too, have a role to play. As the Body of Christ, we live as the physical manifestation of God’s presence on earth — the very hands, feet, and heart of Jesus himself.

Epiphany Manifestations Revealing What and In Whom We Believe

Read my full Epiphany reflection:
mattcomer.net/2851/epiphan...

How we respond — what kind of bricks we’ll mold for the building of this city — is entirely up to us. Will we build cities of power and conquest? Cities of indifference? Or cities of care, compassion, and community?

Epiphany is a season of revelation and manifestation. While God alone is the builder, God call us into active involvement and participation in God’s mission on earth.

On this day: That one time my reporting was cited by Bill Moyers.

My Mondayest of all Mondays turned out half decent. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was the power of self-fulfillment. Either way, I’ll take it.

From Elevation's new university partner, their community covenant banning LGBTQ students. I continue to be saddened that Elevation's marketing (intentionally?) fools LGBTQ people into thinking the church is friendly, welcoming, or affirming.

It's the Mondayest of Mondays, on this first full work week of a new year. If your week is off to anything like mine, things are not going as we originally planned. But that's okay! We can't always choose the journey, but we can roll with the unexpected turns and find new blessings along the way.

I was struck by the comments from Esau McCaulley on a recent Holy Post episode from: Refuse to be the avatar of other people's rage. Don't just yell about the things that upset you. Instead, work to build something constructive.