David W. Swanson
@davidwswanson.bsky.social
South Side Chicago husband, dad, pastor and author. I think about Ida B. Wells when I get confused.
https://dwswanson.com/
https://dwswanson.com/
The stack I'm starting the new year with. How about you? What are you reading as 2026 begins?
January 4, 2026 at 1:24 AM
The stack I'm starting the new year with. How about you? What are you reading as 2026 begins?
Hey preachers, what's the passage and big idea for your first Sunday sermon of 2026? I'll be in Matthew 1:18-25, "We confess that Jesus is Savior by faith."
January 3, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Hey preachers, what's the passage and big idea for your first Sunday sermon of 2026? I'll be in Matthew 1:18-25, "We confess that Jesus is Savior by faith."
Happy new year from me and these cinnamon rolls our family just devoured.
January 1, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Happy new year from me and these cinnamon rolls our family just devoured.
“Until I entered the sanctuary of God...” A year-end reflection from Psalms 73.
December 31, 2025 at 6:59 PM
“Until I entered the sanctuary of God...” A year-end reflection from Psalms 73.
December 31, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Guys, did you know it snows in Michigan?
December 29, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Guys, did you know it snows in Michigan?
Five inches last night. A bunch more today. 55 mph winds. I guess we live in Michigan now.
December 29, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Five inches last night. A bunch more today. 55 mph winds. I guess we live in Michigan now.
This morning I began reading one of my Christmas gifts, the story of "one of the nation's most important African American churches," and this sentence stopped me cold...
December 28, 2025 at 11:51 PM
This morning I began reading one of my Christmas gifts, the story of "one of the nation's most important African American churches," and this sentence stopped me cold...
Reposted by David W. Swanson
Do yourself a favor and memorize something beautiful in 2026.
Even better: make it something exceptionally beautiful, maybe even so beautiful that despite its apparent uselessness countless generations have received it as a heritage and shared it with those they love.
Even better: make it something exceptionally beautiful, maybe even so beautiful that despite its apparent uselessness countless generations have received it as a heritage and shared it with those they love.
December 28, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Do yourself a favor and memorize something beautiful in 2026.
Even better: make it something exceptionally beautiful, maybe even so beautiful that despite its apparent uselessness countless generations have received it as a heritage and shared it with those they love.
Even better: make it something exceptionally beautiful, maybe even so beautiful that despite its apparent uselessness countless generations have received it as a heritage and shared it with those they love.
What book did you read this year that you're most likely to recommend to the rest of us?
Here's what I read in 2025: dwswanson.com/reading-in-2...
Here's what I read in 2025: dwswanson.com/reading-in-2...
Reading in 2025
The Need for Roots, Simone Weil (1949). 12 Notes, Quincy Jones (2022). The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy (2019). Can I Get a Witness? Brian K. Blount (2005). Lullaby for th…
dwswanson.com
December 27, 2025 at 11:30 PM
What book did you read this year that you're most likely to recommend to the rest of us?
Here's what I read in 2025: dwswanson.com/reading-in-2...
Here's what I read in 2025: dwswanson.com/reading-in-2...
On the second day of Christmas we braved a bit of freezing rain to enjoy the winter beauty of northern Michigan.
December 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM
On the second day of Christmas we braved a bit of freezing rain to enjoy the winter beauty of northern Michigan.
"Those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined."
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
Salvation in the Shadows
What is Christmas to those living in a land of deep darkness?
buttondown.com
December 25, 2025 at 11:45 AM
"Those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined."
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
It's become a Christmas Eve tradition for our congregation to join to other churches for a candlelight service. Our three communities would love to welcome you to worship with us if you don't have a church in Chicago this evening. I'll preach from Isaiah 9:2-7, "Salvation in the Shadows."
December 24, 2025 at 4:11 PM
It's become a Christmas Eve tradition for our congregation to join to other churches for a candlelight service. Our three communities would love to welcome you to worship with us if you don't have a church in Chicago this evening. I'll preach from Isaiah 9:2-7, "Salvation in the Shadows."
It's Giving Tuesday! Would you consider a donation to our church's nonprofit organization (newcommunityoutreach.org) as we create restorative spaces for healing, reconciliation and flourishing in our community?
Give here: tinyurl.com/NCOGivingTue...
Give here: tinyurl.com/NCOGivingTue...
December 2, 2025 at 4:55 PM
It's Giving Tuesday! Would you consider a donation to our church's nonprofit organization (newcommunityoutreach.org) as we create restorative spaces for healing, reconciliation and flourishing in our community?
Give here: tinyurl.com/NCOGivingTue...
Give here: tinyurl.com/NCOGivingTue...
Reposted by David W. Swanson
Looking for the perfect gift?
We have a limited # of deeply discounted tickets to the Communities of Flourishing Conference. Join us as we move from critique to action!
@skyejethani.bsky.social @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social @davidwswanson.bsky.social @fullerseminary.bsky.social @erbks.bsky.social
We have a limited # of deeply discounted tickets to the Communities of Flourishing Conference. Join us as we move from critique to action!
@skyejethani.bsky.social @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social @davidwswanson.bsky.social @fullerseminary.bsky.social @erbks.bsky.social
November 28, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Looking for the perfect gift?
We have a limited # of deeply discounted tickets to the Communities of Flourishing Conference. Join us as we move from critique to action!
@skyejethani.bsky.social @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social @davidwswanson.bsky.social @fullerseminary.bsky.social @erbks.bsky.social
We have a limited # of deeply discounted tickets to the Communities of Flourishing Conference. Join us as we move from critique to action!
@skyejethani.bsky.social @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social @davidwswanson.bsky.social @fullerseminary.bsky.social @erbks.bsky.social
Our contributions to the table this year. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
November 27, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Our contributions to the table this year. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
How about it? We can stay away from these three authoritarian-adjacent corporations for a few days, right? We can invest our dollars in local Black and Brown businesses, right?
Learn more here: weaintbuyingit.com
Learn more here: weaintbuyingit.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:36 PM
How about it? We can stay away from these three authoritarian-adjacent corporations for a few days, right? We can invest our dollars in local Black and Brown businesses, right?
Learn more here: weaintbuyingit.com
Learn more here: weaintbuyingit.com
"Here we are, daring to say that even in a bruised and burdened world, God has not ceased to be faithful. Here we are, daring to believe that giving thanks is not naïve optimism but a persistent practice by which we remember who God is."
- @richtywil.bsky.social
substack.com/home/post/p-...
- @richtywil.bsky.social
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Practicing Thanksgiving
We live in a country fluent in exhaustion, a nation where fatigue has become the native tongue.
substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"Here we are, daring to say that even in a bruised and burdened world, God has not ceased to be faithful. Here we are, daring to believe that giving thanks is not naïve optimism but a persistent practice by which we remember who God is."
- @richtywil.bsky.social
substack.com/home/post/p-...
- @richtywil.bsky.social
substack.com/home/post/p-...
"Of these 5,373 [detained by ICE since the government shutdown], there was a net increase of 5,209 more individuals with no criminal history – some 97 percent of the total net increase. Only 3 percent had a criminal conviction even including minor traffic offenses."
tracreports.org/reports/767/
tracreports.org/reports/767/
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
"Of these 5,373 [detained by ICE since the government shutdown], there was a net increase of 5,209 more individuals with no criminal history – some 97 percent of the total net increase. Only 3 percent had a criminal conviction even including minor traffic offenses."
tracreports.org/reports/767/
tracreports.org/reports/767/
"When Christians here in Chicago protest the government’s cruel deportation campaign, whether gathering for a prayer vigil or wading through tear gas-choked streets, we are looking for Jesus."
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
Bearing Witness as Protest
Our testimony to Jesus is the foundation of our dissent
buttondown.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
"When Christians here in Chicago protest the government’s cruel deportation campaign, whether gathering for a prayer vigil or wading through tear gas-choked streets, we are looking for Jesus."
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
Preachers, what's the passage of Scripture and main point of your sermon this week? I'll be in Revelation 3:14-22, "We refuse the deceptions of wealth by trusting Jesus."
November 22, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Preachers, what's the passage of Scripture and main point of your sermon this week? I'll be in Revelation 3:14-22, "We refuse the deceptions of wealth by trusting Jesus."
Reposted by David W. Swanson
"It was a triumph of men who in their effort to replace equality with caste and to build inordinate wealth on a foundation of abject poverty have succeeded in killing democracy."
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
November 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM
"It was a triumph of men who in their effort to replace equality with caste and to build inordinate wealth on a foundation of abject poverty have succeeded in killing democracy."
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
On state-sanctioned violence justified by state-sponsored lies.
November 22, 2025 at 2:09 PM
On state-sanctioned violence justified by state-sponsored lies.
"It was a triumph of men who in their effort to replace equality with caste and to build inordinate wealth on a foundation of abject poverty have succeeded in killing democracy."
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
November 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM
"It was a triumph of men who in their effort to replace equality with caste and to build inordinate wealth on a foundation of abject poverty have succeeded in killing democracy."
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935)