After a Good Friday worship service, Anne-Tillery, a divinity school friend and I, were discussing gender roles in the church over ice cream at the local Kilwins. The night before, we had found ourselves among a sizable group of sorority…
Wrestling with the reality of sexual abuse in the Easter story in Surviving God
In their new book, Surviving God: A New Vision of God Through the Eyes of Sexual Abuse Survivors, Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Susan Shaw offer a feminist and intersectional understanding of God that challenges traditional ways of Christian thinking. Kim…
What I learned hearing 10 Baptist pastors talk about LGBTQ inclusion
Last Friday, I attended the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s 30th anniversary gathering at First Baptist Church of Greensboro, N.C. The theme of “thriving together” took on particular interest to me as a young seminarian because of one of…
Arkansas governor calls for Board of Corrections member to resign after being named in multiple civil complaints about child sexual abuse
Alonza Jiles has declined to resign from his position on the Arkansas’ Board of Corrections despite being called to do so by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders urged Jiles to resign because he has been named by multiple survivors of…
Bill on statute of limitations reform passes out of Missouri House committee unanimously for the second time
For the second year in a row, a bill proposed by Missouri House Rep. Brian Seitz (R) aiming to reform the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse has been unanimously approved by a committee in the House…
How ‘Twin Flames Universe’ leader pretends to be Jesus to create an abusive multi-level marketing scheme
“If you really had the fire of Christ in you, you would do everything in your power to share this.” Such language is common in evangelical churches, with the “this” referring to the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ. But…
Missouri Alliance for Family Restoration advocates for updates to sex offender registry guidelines
Sex offender registry guidelines should be updated to more accurately reflect those ex-convicts who remain true threats to others, according to the Missouri Alliance for Family Restoration. MOAFR claims the current registration requirements do not align with the actual level…
New legislation in Arkansas and Missouri aims to expand statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse
Last week, lawmakers in Arkansas and Missouri presented new legislation aiming to expand and eliminate the statute of limitations in childhood sexual abuse cases. Passed in 2021 in Arkansas, the Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act temporarily changed…
Finding faith when you are wrong: Reflections on religious research
What happens when your faith doesn’t seem to align with something you learn? Like many people who grew up Christian, I was taught there are “absolute truths” about the Bible and Christianity. These informed how I viewed the world, mostly…