There has been significant response to Alexander Lang’s post, “Departure: Why I Left the Church.” I know of two pieces published in Baptist News Global – Cody Sanders’ “I Left the Pastorate While Still Loving It” and Tyler Tankersley’s “Why…
What about China?
I have a friend who regularly hijacks my social media posts about climate change with a statement like, “There’s no point in investing all this money to transition away from fossil fuels unless China, India and Russia do the same.”…
What we’re learning since our homeless church moved in with a homeless shelter
One year ago, our new church was just starting to form and trying to flesh out our identity. We spent the first seven months “doing church” in a large classroom on the local university campus, where we focused on cultivating…
Body positivity and self love is a revolutionary act
A childhood friend and I recently have been talking a lot about our bodies. With both of us on the edge of turning 40, what society says about who we are supposed to be or how we are supposed to…
Our untapped treasure
Do you know any old ladies? I mean the ones gerontologists refer to as the “old-olds”? They are in their late 80s, their 90s and even 100s. With our advancing technologies and expanding life spans, there are more of them…
Connected sectarianism at the end of an age
In his seminal work After Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre closes with an arresting and memorable paragraph : A crucial turning point in that earlier history occurred when men and women of good will turned aside from the task of shoring up…
When ‘liberal talking points’ are the gospel
Russell Moore, evangelical and editor-in-chief of Christianity Today says, “Multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — ‘turn the other cheek’ — (and) to have someone come up…
I left the pastorate while still loving it
Leaving the pastorate of my congregation in June was the hardest vocational decision I’ve yet had to make. After reading Alexander Lang’s recent article, “Departure: Why I Left the Church,” I wanted to write about leaving my church while still…
Why I’ve stayed
On Aug. 27, Alexander Lang preached his last sermon at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights, Ill. A few days later, he wrote a column titled “Departure: Why I Left the Church.” Since then, I have seen Lang’s column shared…
There’s just no excuse
Several years ago, when I was early in my ministerial career, I went to a trusted mentor and friend because I was struggling with a problem. The whole episode was so long ago that the details are now a little…
How are houses of worship like retail stores? Changing channels of distribution
When a house of worship declines — and many are — the congregation tends to blame a dull pastor, an uninspiring music director or a drafty building with a bad sound system. Suppose the reason, more often than not, is…
Christianity after Christendom
In 1850, there were about 700,000 Baptists in the United States, evenly divided between North and South. As the nation expanded and grew, Baptists advanced in membership and social standing. As they expanded, they divided into divergent denominational groups, and…