The Lost Cause myth is the original Big Lie, building on cultural, historical and religious elements of culture to try to create (or recreate) a world where white men reign supreme and some version of America is Great Again. One…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Leonard Hamlin Sr.
Leonard Hamlin Sr. serves as canon missioner and minister of equity and inclusion at the Washington National Cathedral. A Black Baptist pastor, Canon Hamlin oversees the Cathedral’s outreach and social justice work. Given the symbolic importance of its role as…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Jemar Tisby
Jemar Tisby is one of America’s most important prophetic voices, a historian who teaches us how the American church has failed on issues of race and justice, who helps people who look like me wrestle with the truth. His books,…
Politics, faith and mission: A talk with Tim Alberta on his book and faith journey
You may have watched Tim Alberta recently on 60 Minutes, Meet the Press, Firing Line or a full house of cable news shows. His rigorously researched and painfully personal bestseller The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory is essential reading…
Politics, Faith and Mission: A BNG interview series on the 2024 election and the Church
Of late, as regular readers know, I’ve been reflecting on how conservative American Christianity has chased political and temporal power to the great detriment of its mission and our common witness, how the Church, instead of being light and leaven,…
‘What the hell is wrong with these people?’: An Advent message on Christian white nationalism and the end of America
You may have seen Atlantic Monthly writer Tim Alberta on air talking about why he wrote his new bestseller, The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, one of a trio of extraordinary books out this fall warning about white supremacy…
In the footsteps of James Baldwin: An excerpt from The Gospel According to James Baldwin
This week, I’m returning to the Shomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem to read letters from James Baldwin to literary, political and Civil Rights leaders. Then on Sunday, at the historic Church of the Incarnation on Madison…
‘Genesis stories are never accidental’: A conversation with Robert P. Jones
Last week, I welcomed Robert P. Jones back to Baylor University for a conversation about race, religion, James Baldwin and American democracy. Jones was a keynote speaker for our first Baylor conference on racism in the church in 2021, and…
Never say never: The Now and Forever Windows at the National Cathedral
On Sept. 10, 2017, I sat in Washington National Cathedral as Dean Randolph Hollerith announced that after almost two years of discussion, prayer and discernment, the Cathedral Chapter had decided to remove a set of stained-glass windows donated by the…