Religion & Spirituality — The Blog of Alicia T. Crosby

But What Is Church Planting, If Not Spiritual Gentrification Persevering?

Church planting - much like its residential counterpart - is a form of gentrification that reshapes a community that already had culture, texture, beauty, ideologies, priorities, values, and theologies based on a vision that is usually not cast by someone from that hood.

Suffering Is Not A Blessing

Whether it's happening to us, is happening to others, or it happened in the past, we need to scream from the rooftops that someone's #SufferingIsNotABlessing.

Practice vs. Process: Notes on Forgiveness, Repentance, and Grace

MusingsOctober 9, 2019Community, Food for Thought, Friendship, Gaining Perspective, Grace, Journey, Justice, Oppression, Power, Real Talk, Relationships, Self Care, Tension, Values, Wisdom, Religion & Spirituality

The Wisdom Present in Your Fear

PoetryJuly 18, 2019Brokenness, Community, Emotions, Family, Food for Thought, Gaining Perspective, Hate, Heartbreak, Journey, Life, Oppression, Power, Real Talk, Relationships, Self Care, Tension, United States, Wisdom, Religion & Spirituality

I Love You Because I Love Me

Poetry, Faith and Spirituality, MusingsJune 10, 2019Emotions, Food for Thought, Gaining Perspective, Journey, LGBT, Life, Love, Raw, Relationships, Religion & Spirituality

Lent, Jesus, Spiritual Violence, and Religious Trauma? Oh My! [Sermon]

There’s a WHOLE lot of life that happened for me between 12 and 30. As a 32-year-old Black American pansexual pastors kid from Queens with a super blended, sorta complex, multicultural, sociopolitically diverse family, there are *stories* I can tell you. Knowing this leaves me wondering what Jesus’ life looked like during this period. All we know is what Luke 2:52 says. “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.”

Writing My Vision and Making It Plain

MusingsJune 30, 2018Community, Gaining Perspective, Grace, Hope, Justice, Life, Love, Oppression, Power, Real Talk, Tension, Vision, Religion & Spirituality

Finding Your Place In The Resistance

Whether it be resources, time, art, space, relationships, social media shares, physical presence, spiritual counsel, emotional support, bail money, blogging skills, lobbying experience, caretaking, conflict meditation, free/low cost professional support, voter mobilization, or something you can name that falls beyond the scope of this writer's imagination, you have something to lend to those working towards our collective liberation

And On The Day Of Pentecost

With that mighty windAnd energy like wildfireThe Spirit of God burned down partitions of differenceLending presence,Making clear that we are all the children of divinityMaking space for our worship in temples, in the wild, and in common places.Making room for us.

Birthdays, Sabbatical, and Patreon - Oh My!!!

To honor my 32nd birthday and CFI's 3rd anniversary, I'm taking a mini sabbatical and (mostly) pressing pause on my work until June! I'm doing this because I wanted to gift myself with two things my soul is craving: rest and time to create...