The Southern Baptist Convention released a large-scale study on worship leaders in SBC churches last week, and while the results may be alarming, they should not be surprising. Anyone who’s been paying attention for the last four decades should recognize…
What you didn’t know about the Little Rock Nine
America knows the photograph: Nine courageous teenagers walked into Little Rock Central High School while an angry white segregationist resistance made Arkansas the center of an international civil rights crisis. America knows Daisy Bates. We know Gov. Orval Fabaus. We…
Chicago pastors speak out on Lee Man-hee’s detention
An unseasonably humid, gray Thursday morning on Chicago’s South Side was the setting for a unique gathering of faithful souls, and one deceptively simple proposition: Religious liberty is not what its name suggests if it applies only to the familiar,…
In 6 states, governor’s races could influence school vouchers
School vouchers may not be explicitly on the ballot this fall, but gubernatorial elections in at least six states could influence the future of private school choice, education savings accounts and the use of public dollars for private education. The…
Now complementarians are upset about Meryl Streep voicing Aslan
The internet is ablaze with the news that Greta Gerwig has cast Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan in the upcoming adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew. It’s a decision that has been met with an overwhelming evangelical…
What hath justice to do with righteousness?
There are Christians in America who can tell you exactly what righteousness looks like in somebody else’s bedroom but cannot recognize injustice in their own neighborhood. They know which sins keep a person out of the pulpit. They know which…
Trump is lying — again — about the Kennedy Center
I’ve written multiple times about Donald Trump’s obsession with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and his authoritarian motivations to control the arts and culture institutions in this country. The president’s obsession is now threatening the country’s…
When a megachurch isn’t really a megachurch
Once again, Robert Jeffress is the talk of the nation because of his political views. If you live outside Dallas, you probably have an image of First Baptist Church of Dallas as one of the largest and most prominent megachurches…
How much privacy should you expect at church?
Imagine a world where high-control pastors could monitor the movements of every staff member, church member or visitor using the power of artificial intelligence. This is the sacralized dystopia being created at Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. Of course, the…
HPUMC case tests limits of United Methodist connectionalism
If a Methodist church does not recognize the authority of its regional conference or its bishop, is that congregation still a United Methodist church? In its legal dispute with the Horizon West Conference of The United Methodist Church, Highland Park…
Robert Jeffress, apostate
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas, is no stranger to controversy. He has denigrated Christian ethics by openly proclaiming political power as more important than personal character when choosing political candidates. Time and again he’s asked…
What’s so upsetting to evangelicals about Kristin Du Mez?
“Do you know where we are?” I asked my 16-year-old son as we turned onto the main road that goes near my parents’ house. “No,” he replied. “My awareness of the city is like disconnected bubbles. Gramma’s neighborhood is one…