Chris Rice's Blog, page 2
June 14, 2023
Ready for some honesty? Come read my interview on Rapt
Check out the interview I just did with @RaptInterviews. Rapt hosts filmmakers and writers, leaders and servants, preachers and professors, makers and musicians and mystics—imperfect people who create and adventure with God. We talked about identity, personal struggles, my new book From Pandemic to Renewal, the Holy Spirit, daily spiritual practices, favorite resources that equip me to follow Jesus more closely, and the future. You just might be surprised!
P.S. This is no doubt the first time I’ve been “illustrated.” I’m adjusting to the younger look.
May 26, 2023
Pentecost DNA forms border-crossing Christians
Sadao Watanabe (Japanese, 1913–1996), Pentecost, 1965. Hand-colored kappazuri-dyed stencil print on washi paper.Very grateful for the work of Missio Alliance, who invited me to write this article. See full article on their website.
When I think of Pentecost, I think of the wisdom of my friend Rev. Katsuki Hirano, a renowned preacher and Christian author in Japan, who jokes that – in a country where less than two percent of people are Christian – he is pastor of a 200-member Tokyo “megachurch.” As Christians in America from left and right struggle for political dominance, Katsuki has a word for us: “Don’t be afraid to be a minority.” Pentecost also connects me to my colleague Mulanda Jimmy Juma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who says the desire for electric cars in the U.S. is helping fuel a battle for precious minerals in his country, resulting in churches in eastern Congo facing more and more local violence. Pentecost also reminds me of my front-row seat in Christian ministry at the United Nations in New York City, where fellow believers across the world regularly show me how American power can be a force for good in their countries yet can also cause enormous harm. And when I think of Pentecost, I think of a 2019 virus in Wuhan, China that eventually crossed every border until the whole world was in the death grip of a pandemic, a crisis of a generation which continues to haunt churches in America with its consequences.
But what does all this have to do with Pentecost? Disciples of Christ today are deprived, and the gospel’s power is diminished, when we are blind to problems and to fellow believers across national borders. Before Pentecost, this was also true for Jesus’ first disciples.
Chris Rice lives in New York City and serves as director of the United Nations Office of the Mennonite Central Committee, an international relief, development, and peace agency. His new book is From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis. Chris blogs at chrisriceauthor.com.
May 23, 2023
Book release today
A day of celebration as my book releases today! Available here in print, e-book, and audio book and at these sites as well.
My book is about renewal, which I believe comes to our lives when strange and difficult ground becomes holy ground.
Here’s a brief description of my book, from the book jacket —
“The pandemic changed the world on a global scale. Not only was it devastating in terms of loss of life, it also revealed deep layers of anxiety and brokenness throughout society. Mental exhaustion, economic disparities, and escalating divisions now mark our times.
“But Chris Rice sees the challenges of our day as a historic opportunity for renewal and fresh growth. As he examines eight interrelated crises exposed by the pandemic era, he provides pathways for followers of Christ to bring transformation and healing to their lives and communities. Covering topics ranging from a burnout society and a dangerous bipolar world order to our own divided selves, Rice helps readers to understand this emerging world that will reshape our lives for decades to come.
“Drawing from his work across divides domestically and around the world, and writing with vulnerability and honesty about his own failings, he sets forth transformative practices that can move us toward social healing and spiritual renewal.”
May 20, 2023
Why I wrote “From Pandemic to Renewal”
In early 2020 I was working on a book project which suddenly seemed unimportant after the pandemic interruption. This interview with my publishing team at InterVarsity Press (which they are sharing with media outlets) is about why I decided to write a different book – From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis.
What about your personal experiences during the pandemic prompted you to write this book?
Chris Rice: After the pandemic hit, I had a front-row seat at the United Nations and with a global ministry working in fifty countries. I saw firsthand many new crises unfold in the world. Meanwhile my wife was putting her life at risk as a nurse at the frontlines in New York City, and she saw many American realities firsthand. I was also living with my father in small town Vermont, seeking to protect him, and that experience opened up pain in my family I hadn’t seen before.
On every front—global, national, and personal—I began to see that the pandemic was like an x-ray revealing many new challenges such as frantic anxiety, rising disparity, surging polarization, political mediocrity, and brokenness in private life. But my life’s journey also taught me that crises can ignite incredible new growth in our lives. All this convinced me that this is an unprecedented new time in our world that can become a time of great renewal. That gave me great passion to write this book.
Do you believe there are pathways toward renewal coming out of the challenges of the pandemic?
Chris: The pandemic has been the crisis of a century, exposing a new time in our world that will reshape our lives for decades to come. But this challenging time we are in is also the opportunity of a century—for renewal in our lives, churches, and world.
My book is about eight challenges exposed by the pandemic and eight pathways to renewal and fresh growth. There is much we can read about Covid-19 as a health and economic crisis. But using a moral and scriptural lens, my book gives readers a bird’s-eye view, revealing great challenges that were exposed or accelerated by the pandemic, how the world has been changed, and how a new time has come, which, yes, presents a remarkable opportunity for the renewal of Christian life and public witness in our families, churches, and the world.
What do you hope readers might take away from your book?
Chris: I want readers to understand and to be gripped by the unprecedented new time the pandemic has opened in our world for decades to come. I want them to gain deep insight into eight extraordinary challenges facing our lives, communities, and churches, which have been exposed or accelerated by the pandemic. I hope people will learn how engaging these challenges—from personal, to social, to political—can become ground for drawing closer to Christ. I want readers to be inspired with hope by gaining fresh knowledge about faithful and effective steps they can take for positive action and change and for becoming border-crossing people. More than educate readers, I want this book to spark renewal in their lives.
Here’s where to order From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis.
(featured image by Mark Weber, Op-Art)
May 16, 2023
Is to love much to grieve much?
Here are 6 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
1. In recent months I’ve become aware of feeling much grief. Partly losses close to my own life in the past several years, partly friends and their immense losses, as well as early deaths. Then there’s my daily work engaging the United Nations, and becoming more aware of places of increasing suffering, from Myanmar to Syria to Palestine. And in an MCC meeting this week, this comment from a well-connected leader: “Pastors are weary. They’re running on adrenaline. It’s not sustainable.” As my life gets longer, I didn’t anticipate the impact of increasing loss. It’s not easy to accept that to love much is to also suffer much. I am trying to be drawn closer to knowing the God who is somehow present to all this, a God who suffers. In the words of the hymn “My Song is Love Unknown,” “Never was love, dear King, never was grief, like Thine.”
2. When life and the world gets difficult, I try to seek out things that spark joy. On a recent afternoon in my beloved Adirondack Mountains, after canoeing my favorite lake, and taking a plunge into icy waters, I sat down in the grass. And lo and behold, close by swimming from my left came a loon. Normally I am pursuing those magical creatures. It was as if it was seeking me.
3. Recommended: Christianity Today’s article “What Evangelicals Owe Haiti” is a superb look at a country which has been “over-missionized” with minimal effect on the nation as a whole. If you tempted to withdraw from politics, or don’t think political power can be used for enormous good, watch this surprising New York Times video story “In This Story, George Bush is the Hero” (how 25 million lives were saved during the AIDS crisis).
4. As part of my United Nations engagement with MCC, I’m part of the NGO Working Group/Security Council, about 30 agencies that meet off-the-record with members of the Security Council, the premier global body for maintaining international peace and security. What keeps coming up is division within the “Permanent 5” members which is paralyzing action. With rising US-China tensions, as one ambassador put it, “when two elephants fight, everyone else gets trampled.” And as a “P5” member, Russia’s illegal military invasion of Ukraine is perverting the Council’s legitimacy. I’ll be writing more about what, if anything, can be done.
5. Releasing one week from today on May 23, my new book “From Pandemic to Renewal” is much on my mind. A mentor I sent an advance copy to sent some kind words: “Your new book arrived yesterday, and I am already well into it. You have a good writing style and compelling message. The issue of personal transformation through Christ directing our stance and response toward crisis is urgently needed by the church, reeling as it is from loss of vision and fractured by seemingly irreconcilable conflict. Thanks for sharing your infectious sense of vocation.”
6. Comments like that make it worth it, given the ups and downs of writing a book – expressed so well in these two cartoons. So, hey, please think about pre-ordering my book here. If you like it, tell others. And if you’re a praying person, please – do that too.
May 6, 2023
My new book launches May 23
In less than three weeks my new book From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis will release. I would be grateful for your help to support the launch and spread the word about my book.
Here are 4 things you can do:
Pre-order the book now – from InterVarsity Press or from AmazonRead it
Write a review – on Amazon here or GoodReads hereRecommend the book to others – by emailing your network, posting on social media, recommending to a few others, etc. Here is a link to graphics you can use to help spread the word.Also, I invite you to check out my new website. If you like, please subscribe to my newsletter to get the latest updates from me. Thank you in advance for your help and support.
April 29, 2023
My new website!
Welcome to my new website – chrisriceauthor.com. I’m very excited about it!
I’ve written for many years at a blog called “Reconcilers.” But the release of my new book on May 23, From Pandemic to Renewal, marks a shift that’s been happening in my experience and expertise, to what I call “engaging Christian faith and the global public square.”
The shift began in 2014 with moving from Duke University and U.S.-based work to living and serving five years in South Korea and Northeast Asia, and then since 2019 in New York City and United Nations-facing work with an international faith-based agency. The shift is reflected in my recent years of magazine and blog writing, and now in my new book.
If you’re a current subscriber to my posts, I’d love to hear what you think about the new website using the contact form here. (By the way, all my previous posts are in the new website.)
If you’re visiting for the first time, or have never subscribed, if you like what you see, you can subscribe here to my weekly posts and monthly “Faith/GPS” newsletter.
And you can read about and order my new book here – From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis.
Finally, an invitation to all people of goodwill: While my calling is “Engaging Christian faith and the global public square,” my work at the United Nations brings me into vibrant relationship with people of all faiths, including precious colleagues who work for truth, justice, and lasting peace. I want my new website to be a place of conversation across difference, across the world, with truth and mutual respect.
Blessings!
