Tales of Loss and Longing: St Greg’s Acoustic Chapel Series, February 23 in Chicago

February 21, 2018

I’m really excited about collaborating with the Acoustic Chapel series at St. Gregory the Great in Chicago with my Love and Salt co-author Amy Andrews to produce Tales of Loss and Longing. Amy and I will both be reading  new work and introducing The Stapletons, who created one of my favorite albums of 2017: Battles and Ballads. … More Tales of Loss and Longing: St Greg’s Acoustic Chapel Series, February 23 in Chicago

Mother! isn’t just allegory. It’s another horror story about artists and domestic life.

February 7, 2018

Religious horror is a film genre in its own right, and Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist are among my all-time favorites. But even horror movies that aren’t explicitly religious stoke my religious imagination, exploring questions of who suffers and why and to what end. The best aren’t the goriest but rather those that articulate or give shape to our … More Mother! isn’t just allegory. It’s another horror story about artists and domestic life.

Horror and the Religious Imagination: Grief, Mothers, and the Babadook

October 2, 2017

I’m back from the Convivium literary festival and a whole weekend in Pittsburgh, one of my favorite places on earth, where I got to see some of my favorite people on earth and spend hours talking about art and religion and community. Check out my Instagram (@jmesgriff) for lots of great pics of St Paul’s … More Horror and the Religious Imagination: Grief, Mothers, and the Babadook

My Vocation

September 12, 2017

My vocation is to write. When I’m tempted to distraction or guilt over all the other work that needs doing in the church and the world, I must repeat this to myself: My vocation is to write.  We’re all called to kingdom building, but words are the only tools that fit in my hands. When I’ve … More My Vocation

Torschlusspanik

August 23, 2017

The term midlife crisis comes from the German torschlusspanik, which translates as  ‘shut-door panic,’ — a fear of being on the wrong side of a closing door. Torschlusspanik isn’t just for the middle years of life, whatever those years may be. Sometimes the space on the other side of the door feels like dead space—an empty house or one less … More Torschlusspanik

Listen to my conversation with Mary Hynes on CBC’s “Tapestry”

May 9, 2017

In an interview for her wonderful show, Tapestry, Mary Hynes and I talked about the work I’m doing with Sick Pilgrim, and why I feel so passionately about providing a space in the church for the marginalized: “I feel we’re providing a liminal space for people to come and enjoy and raid the church for treasure. … More Listen to my conversation with Mary Hynes on CBC’s “Tapestry”

take your broken heart, make it into art

April 20, 2017

“Take your broken heart; make it into art,” Meryl Streep said through tears, quoting her late friend, fellow actress Carrie Fisher, when she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes earlier this year. Streep’s controversial comments were directed at those who felt brokenhearted at the election of a certain president, but her … More take your broken heart, make it into art

The 2017 Religion Communicators Convention & Wilbur Awards

April 4, 2017

“How do you become the top blog on the biggest religious and spiritual website? Jessica Mesman Griffith has a few ideas. She is co-founder of one that rocketed to success in the last year despite her doing almost everything counterintuitively. You may be surprised about what she has to say. In January 2016 she launched … More The 2017 Religion Communicators Convention & Wilbur Awards