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David W. Swanson

@davidwswanson.bsky.social
1.6K followers 379 following 733 posts

South Side Chicago husband, dad, pastor and author. I think about Ida B. Wells when I get confused. dwswanson.com

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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
"...against the savagery which would so mercilessly put men and women to death. But it was evidence of American civilization to be passed by unnoticed, to be denied or condoned as the requirement of any future emergency might determine." - A Red Record, 1895
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
"American Christianity heard of this awful affair and read of its details and neither press nor pulpit gave the matter more than a passing comment. Had it occurred in the wilds of interior Africa, there would have been an outcry from the humane people of this country..."
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Speaking of a Mississippi lynching in 1892, Ida B. Wells could well be describing the way we remain so committed to violence that we will not mourn the destruction of our neighbors.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Really wonderful to be back in western North Carolina, if even for just 24 hours, where autumn is just beginning its spectacular entrance.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you." - Jeremiah 7:5-6
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It is the presence of the Holy God, the One who is Righteousness and Justice, which is our foundation. It is this God who provokes a confession about our own corruption and complicity, who clothes us in his righteousness that we might pursue in the world what we have first known in our own lives.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
We are compelled to seek justice not by the whims of our own conflicted convictions or fleeting feelings. No, we need a more enduring motivation if our efforts and not just our aims are to be just.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. When we foolishly maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum we sign the warrant for our own day of doom." - Martin Luther King, Jr.; "The Three Evils of Society," (1967)
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A lot of multiracial churches are disconnected from the Black Church... and it shows.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Ideologues and partisans differentiate themselves by the kinds of people they are most willing to kill. Christians distinguish ourselves by our dedication to everyone's right to live.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"Whether by omission or commission, the forces of racial division, antipathy, and dehumanizing exploitation depend on the participation of sinful people like me." buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com
Pendulums and Repentance
Choosing solidarity by jumping into the fray
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As people are treated like machines and machines are imagined as people, as we are increasingly desperate for spaces to experience the sacred nature of our God-given humanity, may our churches double-down on the embodied, incarnate, and decidedly anti-machine nature of the Body of Christ.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Are you a descendant of those with the privilege of remaining mute in response to terror? Let the silence end with our generation. May it never be said of us that we never said a word.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How many times have those in positions of pastoral influence chosen to accommodate societal violence, as though white comfort is more valuable than Black life?
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How many times have they told us that they simply cannot speak about every social issue, as though our neighbors and Christian siblings are not bearers of the divine image?
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How many times have white pastors chosen silence in the face of the destruction leveled at our Black sisters and brothers, as though whiteness is worthy of greater allegiance than Christ and his people?
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"I answered - nothing. That Mr. Moody had never said a word against lynching." "Never said a word" is a damning description of the safe, middle-of-the-road, apolitical responses favored by Moody's ecclesial heirs.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Once, when traveling in England to advocate for racial equality back home, Ida B. Wells was asked what the world-renowned evangelist D.L. Moody had done to advocate against the white lynch mobs terrorizing Black U.S. citizens.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
These are the two books I think about every single time another tech leader warns about the existential risks posed by A.I. while simultaneously developing the technology as quickly as possible.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Next month I'll begin facilitating a preaching cohort with Charlie Dates. "The Prophet in the Pulpit" is designed to equip preachers to build sermons that courageously proclaim the gospel in the face of injustice while faithfully illuminating scriptures. Info: wheatonbillygraham.com/preaching-in...
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I am a witness! I hope you'll pick up this wise, succinct, and absolutely accessible book written by a man who has been living what he preaches as long as I've known him. 3/ bookshop.org/p/books/what...
bookshop.org
What Hath Justice to Do with Righteousness?: Reclaiming the Intersection of Protest and Prayer
"Dates doesn't speak on his own authority. He takes us to the authority of God expressed in Scripture to demonstrate how the wrongful tearing apart of righteousness and justice within much of the chur...
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
"It is in the very place of living between injustice God's desire for righteousness that we come to discover God's will for our lives. The person with the irresistible impulse to fight injustice on the grounds of righteousness is a candidate to discover their role in God's grand schema." 2/
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I've seen it again and again during my years in ministry– the malformed intuition that a person must choose between God's righteousness and a commitment to justice. But as Charlie Dates writes in his new book, this separation couldn't be more wrong. 1/
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I'm glad to be partnering with my friend Charlie Dates for this preaching cohort. Covering many of the basics of sermon preparation and delivery, we'll also focus on preaching God's heart for justice and righteousness. Learn more or register here: wheatonbillygraham.com/preaching-in...
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
"A break from being expected to say things about God can allow a pastor to be freshly destabilized by the reality of God." My sabbatical begins tomorrow and this is one of the things I'm most looking forward to. buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com
The Hazards of God-Talk
The sabbatical invitation to say less
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Our nonprofit is hiring part-time and full-time positions! If you or someone you know is interested in working with some incredible young people as we pursue healing, reconciliation, and flourishing, take a look: Staff: drive.google.com/file/d/1-ZK1... Lead: drive.google.com/file/d/1-ZK1...
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
God's good, pleasing, and perfect will does not choose between social structures or personal piety. We embrace justice and holiness because Jesus is Lord of all.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Wearing my A Rocha USA hat while watering the New Community Outreach gardens. Love that I get to support these two incredible organizations! newcommunityoutreach.org arocha.us
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
It's become our church's tradition on Pentecost to trade the sermon for a two-block walk to a local elementary school where we pray over the gardens that we'll spend the summer tending and harvesting. Grateful for a church that is willing to leave the building to pray... even in a bit of rain!
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
"As we reclaim our God-desired agency over the small decisions, gentle words, and generous actions which make up a human life, we find that we are not as helpless before the systems of violence as we were led to believe." buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com
We Are Not Helpless
Reclaiming agency in a catastrophic age
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
President Trump is still a racist, misogynist, liar, and thief. Christians will pray for the man's repentance and speak truthfully about him until he does.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Those who aren't grieved by the persistent assault on Black citizenship have proven themselves profoundly unsafe.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Church folks: Is there any way your pastor could use AI for sermon preparation that would be OK with you?
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I recently had the privilege of preaching for a seminary commencement. I spoke about the temptation of relevancy we pastors face. "A Christianity that has appropriated the tools of consumer capitalism expects measurable and impressive results from its ministers." buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com
The Irrelevant Pastor
The expression and experience of vocational weakness
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Wisdom is differentiating between the willfully and the honestly ignorant. Those whose ignorance comes honestly deserve our patience. We've each been among this group and our growth came through someone's patience with us. But to those whose ignorance is chosen we can only offer our boundaries.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
The amount of emotional, relational, and physical harm AI companies are willing to expose their users to is... telling. Behind their utopian propaganda is a vision of humanity that is profoundly inhumane. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
reuters.com
Waymo recalls 3,800 robotaxis over risk of entering flooded roads
Waymo said on Tuesday it is recalling about ​3,800 robotaxis in the United States after identifying a ‌risk that vehicles could enter flooded roads with higher speed limits, raising safety concerns.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
There were so many warblers in Jackson Park this morning, though most of them were too busy hunting snacks to pose. Thanks to the palm warbler, song sparrow, and blue-gray gnatcatcher for hanging out for a bit.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
We just learned that our corporate sponsor will not be working with us this summer. If you have any leads of Chicago-based organizations who'd be interested in contributing $3,000 to support some incredible students, please message me for more info. newcommunityoutreach.org/programs/key...
newcommunityoutreach.org
KEY Summer Leadership Program - New Community Outreach
KEY Summer Leadership Program
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Each year our church's nonprofit org offers a seven-week Summer Leadership Program for young people in our community. It's an amazing (paid!) program and it's so encouraging to watch the students grow as leaders throughout the summer.... newcommunityoutreach.org/programs/key...
newcommunityoutreach.org
KEY Summer Leadership Program - New Community Outreach
KEY Summer Leadership Program
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
"It's about states' rights," said the White Citizens' Council back then. "It's about political redistricting," says MAGA today. But Jim Crow is always about racism. Same as it ever was.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Before taking office, Trump pressured Republicans to kill a bipartisan immigration bill. Now, despite GOP majorities, no immigration legislation has been advanced. For the president and his supporters, immigration is not a challenge to compassionately resolve but an opportunity to cruelly exploit.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
The relentless efforts to disenfranchise Black citizens – the SAVE Act, the dismantled Voting Rights Act, etc. – expose how terrifying Black freedom remains to white power.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Multiracial democracy is the dream. White supremacist autocracy remains the reality.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
After the stillness of winter, it's always such a lift to hear the birdsong return to Jackson Park. Thanks to the ruby-crowned kinglets, white-throated sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers, and all the others who joined me for my walk this morning.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
It's an old and predictable tactic: powerful people who distort and vilify nonviolent resistance to distract from their own violent aggression. Don't get distracted. Motivated by love, keep seeking and speaking the truth.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
"The authoritative leader...displaces the rule of law and 'common' sense to become the quixotic judge of what is just or unjust, truth or lie, in each moment." - Shoshana Zuboff
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
To those who value efficiency and power, the work we’ve given ourselves to will typically appear foolish and weak. buttondown.com/david.w.swan...
buttondown.com
The Crowd Has Departed
Re-imagining reconciliation when others have moved on
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Happy Earth Day, friends. Don't let anyone tell you to pick between your care for the environment and your commitment to racial justice. www.ivpress.com/plundered
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Such a gift to spend the weekend in beautiful Seattle, but I'm glad to be home for a walk through Jackson Park to welcome back migrators like these yellow-rumped and palm warblers.
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David W. Swanson @davidwswanson.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
To paraphrase Abraham Joshua Heschell, a prophet is distinguished by the ability to hold the righteousness of God and the frailties of humanity "in a single thought." Though it rarely ends well for those with this both-and call, our either-or churches and culture desperately need their voices.
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