Angela Denker

Minneapolis

Freelance Writer at Freelance

author of DISCIPLES OF WHITE JESUS March '25 | RED STATE CHRISTIANS '22 + '19 | https://t.co/3zZpyBEnMS | mom of 2 boys | columnist @startribune

Articles

One simple thing you can offer people experiencing homelessness

3 days ago | startribune.com | Angela Denker

I've been wanting to find a way to write about homelessness for several months now, undertaking hours of research and interviews. I've waded through data and articles about encampments and policy changes, about defunding and about increased initiatives. So many people have tried so many different things, and just as soon as something seems to be working, another problem pops up. What is there left to say?
Sunday Stretch: Mother's Day 2025

3 days ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,Well, I said the below last year - but what do you know - it’s true again this year! (And - I’m currently recuperating from a nasty upper respiratory virus/infection - so send some prayers for clear lungs + quick healing when you get a chance. Thank you!)Mother’s Day came fast this year! I’ve been a mom for 13 years now (if you count the time I was pregnant with my first) and that old adage of long days, short years, just gets more and more true all the time.
News with Nuance: May 9, 2025

5 days ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,I’ve been thinking today of the Bible reading from Luke 24, where two of Jesus’ disciples are walking down the Road to Emmaus, after Jesus has been arrested and sentenced to death by crucifixion. The Bible text says that as they walked, Jesus himself appeared and walked with them, but “their eyes were kept from noticing him.” Instead, the two are filled with grief, sadness, exhaustion, and lament. They tell this supposed “stranger” that Jesus has been crucified.
Sunday Stretch: Vol. 124, Easter 3

1 week ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,As I write this, we are awaiting a potential severe spring storm in Minneapolis. We got this news right after my husband put out the deck furniture cushions, so we have impeccable timing, as usual. There’s an electricity in the air with an impending storm, as well as the barometric pressure changes that give so many of us headaches.
A Little Perspective

2 weeks ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,I started out this morning feeling like today was a special, luxurious sort of treat. I didn’t have any appointments on the calendar between dropping off my youngest at school, and then taking him to an appointment at 3 in the afternoon. I knew today too that it was the last Tuesday of the month, the day when I plan to write a special Substack just between us - without a certain kind of agenda or plan.
Sunday Stretch: Vol. 123, Easter 2

2 weeks ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers, I’m writing to you the morning after Easter, in the wake of Pope Francis’ death, and I have to admit that I’m tired. It feels like we are always waiting for a moment to catch our breaths, and that moment never comes. I think the truth is that we can’t wait for those moments to come anymore. Instead, we have to prioritize them. We have to take them, insist upon them - as Jesus insisted upon meals and moments with his friends, even after the resurrection as he returned to earth.
News with Nuance: April 25, 2025

2 weeks ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,It’s a rainy day in April, and by the time you read this, my new book, Disciples of White Jesus, will have been out for a month! What a month it has been. I’ll have a few more reflections on this next week, but for now I will say that oftentimes writing a book feels a lot like the month of April in Minnesota. The thing is that much of April is wet, windy, cold, and heavy with expectation of spring to come. But spring always takes longer to get here than we might hope.
The inclusive legacy of a lowly pontiff

3 weeks ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,As promised, sharing with you here my reflections on Pope Francis’ death; from the Minnesota Star Tribune. When I awoke the first morning after Easter Sunday to learn of Pope Francis’ death, the first tributes to him I saw were from a Jewish person and a gay Methodist pastor. That was fitting for a pope who represented the best of an inclusive Catholic Church, and, if I may, an inclusive Gospel of Jesus himself.
The inclusive legacy of a lowly pontiff

3 weeks ago | startribune.com | Angela Denker

When I awoke the first morning after Easter Sunday to learn of Pope Francis' death, the first tributes to him I saw were from a Jewish person and a gay Methodist pastor. That was fitting for a pope who represented the best of an inclusive Catholic Church, and, if I may, an inclusive Gospel of Jesus himself. The Catholic Church is perhaps better known throughout history for its exclusion, abuse, violence and stodginess, at least as portrayed in popular culture.
A cynical country faces resurrection

3 weeks ago | angeladenker.substack.com | Angela Denker

Hi Readers,On this Easter Monday, as we mourn the death of Pope Francis (more on Pope Francis’ legacy from me soon), I wanted to share this piece that ran yesterday, on Easter, from me in the Minnesota Star Tribune. Cynics don’t go whale watching. Or at least, I assume they don’t because it’s not the kind of activity you go into with a bitter and unbelieving heart. Or maybe, you do.