In a political moment of intense polarization, and in a faith tradition where "hold on to your faith" is often read as an invitation to do battle against other perspectives, how do we carve out some generous space for re-thinking things? Somewhere, buried under the baggage of harmful legacies that seek to "defend our faith" and perpetuate oppressive systems, our church tradition also offers tools for changing our minds. Not in spite of our faith, but because of it. www.TheLoftLA.org

Gun culture is an American tradition with deep roots. It seems that every few years, after the tragic loss of life on a mass scale, we debate, yet again, about access to guns. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been 450 mass shootings this year alone. To be sure, the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde which targeted Black people and children, should prompt all people, regardless of their religious or political affiliation, to push for policies that reduce and eliminate gun violence. This Sunday we will explore the human side of gun violence, from school children to soldiers, and wrestle with the challenges that nonviolence presents us with as followers of the religion of Jesus. www.TheLoftLA.org

In this series, we have explored loves meaning by giving love words. We settled on a definition of love as the will to extend yourself, to nurture your own or another's spiritual growth. We explored the ethical implications of living by a love ethic, and the ways in which our social identities cause us to think about love in a multitude of ways. Throughout this series, we have sought to shape our community into a school of love, a place where all people can feel as though they belong. This is a love that leads to justice, solidarity, and freedom. The Singers of Soul gospel choir will be joining us this Sunday as we celebrate the freedom we find in love. This Sunday will be unlike anything you have ever experienced before in church! Ten songs intermingled with spoken word, prayer, and holy communion. We invite you to join us as we collectively make a joyful noise unto the Lord! www.TheLoftLA.org

In her book All About Love, bell hooks writes that whether our homes are happy or troubled, our families functional or dysfunctional our homes are our original school of love. We would like to believe that most children are born into homes where they will be loved. However, as we have discovered in our series, many adults are still learning how to love and how to distinguish between love and care. Given this, how might we reimagine our homes and church community as a school of love? What would it look like to teach young people how to cultivate the will and the courage to love, how to extend themselves, to nurture their own or another's spiritual growth? To be sure, this is not just a conversation for parents! We all have relationships with young people, even if tangential, and thus we are all in some way responsible for nurturing the next generation of human beings whom we hope will strive to be loving people. Rev. Dr. Carter will be in conversation with Owen Shiflett and Kristi Salmeron-Meneses as they discuss and explore how they are trying to approach teaching young people how to love. www.TheLoftLA.org

Every person experiences love in ways unique to them. Yet, as we have learned, our experiences of love as children and young adults inform how we think about love as adults. This Sunday we continue to broaden the scope of our exploration of love to focus specifically on the Queer community. Given the pervasive reality of sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, and transphobia, what are the visions of love that queer folks have constructed that have enabled them to flourish in the midst of marginalization? Rev. Dr. Carter will be in conversation with Westley Garcia, Celeste Frey, and Lauren McBrayer as they examine how and in what ways our notions of gender, sex, and sexuality inform how we perceive love.

www.TheLoftLA.org

Among men in our contemporary society, our longing for love is often implicitly stated. So, when love is discussed the discussions are usually driven by women. To be sure, for most men, their longing for love is rarely, if ever, discussed. If love is the will to extend yourself, to nurture your own or another's spiritual growth, we must ask ourselves why is it that most men seem to lack the will to love? How and in what ways has our religious tradition enabled a masculine vision of love that is rooted in the preservation of patriarchy to exist? To know love, men must be able to let go of the will to dominate. They must be able to choose life over death. They must be willing to change. To be sure, our sacred text offers visions of love that disrupt and dismantle patriarchy. How might we fashion communities that encourage and support men in their quest to feel, to love? www.TheLoftLA.org

In our society, the majority of discussions about love are driven by women. Women are encouraged to learn how to love, seek love - and in turn confront their fears of not being loving or of not being loved enough. As bell hooks writes in her book Communion, "that females are born into a patriarchal world, which first invites us to make the journey to love and then places barriers in our way, is one of life's ongoing tragedies." Rev. Dr. Carter will be joined by a new member of our community, Fay Lin, and Pastor Molly as they examine and unpack the cultural narratives around women and love. Join us as we explore how the religion of Jesus can help all of us, but especially women, come to the place where we can find communion, know joy, and join the circle of love. www.TheLoftLA.org

Every person experiences love in ways unique to them. Yet, as we have learned throughout this series, our experiences of love as a child inform how we think about love as adults. This Sunday, we broaden the scope of our exploration of love to include our respective communities. Given the pervasive reality of white supremacy, what are the visions of love that people of color have constructed that have enabled them to "make a way out of now way?" Rev. Dr. Carter will be joined in conversation with our Lay Leaders Shiran Witt and Alex Smith as they examine how and in what ways our racial, ethnic, and cultural communities taught us what love is and what love isn't. Join us as we explore how the religion of Jesus has and can continue to help marginalized communities tend the wounds of dehumanization with love and compassion. www.TheLoftLA.org

When I think about what our culture teaches us about love, I don't immediately think about it being something that's in opposition to greed. Yet, the deeper we go into our exploration of love, using wisdom from bell hooks' All About Love and our study of scripture, the more the two come into sharp contrast. By looking at love in contrast to greed, we see clearly ways that the kind of love we're called to practice as followers of Jesus is an antidote to rugged individualism or selfish possessiveness of what we might call "greed." www.TheLoftLA.org

Let's be honest, some people are difficult to love, especially if they have harmed us or our community. Not loving these people feels like the right thing to do, even if we intellectually know that it isn't. If love is the will to extend yourself, to nurture your own or another's spiritual growth, how might we bring our internal world into alignment with our moral commitment to love our neighbors – all of our neighbors? The religion of Jesus shows us that it is possible to extend compassion and the hand of reconciliation to anyone, even those whom we think of as enemies. www.TheLoftLA.org