Author: jamescalvindavis

Christian Faith Sometimes Calls for Political Dissent

jamescalvindavis

As a Presbyterian clergyperson, I belong to a regional judicatory called Albany Presbytery, and this spring Albany Presbytery released a statement objecting—as a matter of Christian principle—to destructive developments in US politics around immigration, social services, public discourse, and other parts of the common good. I was honored to participate in drafting that statement, and I am proud to see that it’s getting some attention on the national stage.

Capacious Christianity

jamescalvindavis

A Pentecost sermon preached at the Congregational Church of Middlebury, VT, on June 8, 2025

Friends, I want to suggest to you today that we are ripe for a new Pentecost. The world in our moment needs people who are set afire and possessed with a message of grace and hospitality and inclusion, to push against the destructive trinity of arrogance, fear, and dehumanization that now reigns. We need a new Pentecost. We need the rebirth of capacious Christianity.

Click the link below to watch the full sermon:
https://www.facebook.com/MiddUCC/videos/3955528118003925

Ethics in the MCU

jamescalvindavis

I was recently interviewed by The Conversation for their series about Uncommon Courses. I discussed my Middlebury College first-year seminar “Ethics in the MCU.” As I state in the article, I structured this course around specific moral questions, then used a Marvel film or series to get the students thinking and talking about those issues. Check it out!