One of the tasks and joys of my ministry in the last year has been to build relationships with young adults in our community and respond to their needs. Recently, that work brought me out from the walls of the…
Valentines, ashes and the sixth anniversary of the Parkland School Shooting
For only the fifth time this century, Ash Wednesday shares the same date as Valentine’s Day, and the two will coincide only once more for the remainder of the 21st century. There is something strangely beautiful and paradoxical about these…
Tell me about your Christian tattoo
In the evangelical subculture I was raised in, we were taught to cover most of our bodies for the sake of modesty. I was told repeatedly, “Your body is a temple.” So you can imagine my shock when, as a…
How a verbally abusive male pastor derailed a young woman from ministry
“I can’t tell you how many Monday mornings I cried in the bathroom not wanting to go to work because I was so terrified of what the senior pastor was going to say to me when he came into the…
Here’s what’s wrong with the new Hardin Simmons Statement of Faith
As a graduate of Hardin-Simmons University’s class of 2019, I recently became aware of the board of trustees newly released Statement of Faith, which was adopted on May 19, 2022. Of particular note is the trustee’s declaration on sexuality and…
Where I found acceptance as a woman, others now find rejection
I was sitting at a table on the first floor of the library at Hardin-Simmons University when a fellow classmate from Logsdon School of Theology approached me with a smile. He sat down across from me and slid the rough…