A Baptist seminary has closed. But every day churches are closing too. How might we respond to this reality now, rather than delaying decision-making until we are forced to permanently lock the church doors, shutter the windows and turn out the lights?
Evangelicals have lost moral credibility. But there are signs of self-confrontation that could lead to reconciliation, even revival
Whatever moral credibility American evangelicals once had, they have lost. They have chosen to die on the 45th hill, and it has been painful and despairing to watch. Our nation desperately needs strong faith communities that are able to articulate a clear moral voice, even if it convicts them, too.
Why ministers shouldn’t walk away from social media
Ministers may not like the present reality of how people communicate, but it is the present reality. If we opt out of social media, we remove our voices from the conversation and fail to be informed about what others are doing and saying.
Gov. Northam is not an outlier: American Christianity’s tolerance for white supremacy
Tragically, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam isn’t an outlier. He merely offers the latest, high-profile evidence of the deep and bitter truth about white Christianity’s toleration of, and complicity in, the sin of white supremacy.
Flight or invisibility: revisiting a classic theological question
In middle school we debated the great theological question: which superpower – flight or invisibility? I secretly preferred a third option: stopping time. But today what I need is the ability to be alive in this moment, in what Paul Tillich called the “eternal now.”
Letter to the Editor – Queen Did Not Discover Jesus
Queen Did Not Discover Jesus by Layne Wallace, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina
Being ‘barely Christian’ as a way of being authentically Christian
My friend describes herself as “barely Christian.” It was what happened at church, as folk poured out judgment on persons she loved, that made her question what it meant to be a Christian.
Letters to the Editor for 02.01.19
Queen did not discover Jesus by Layne Wallace, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina
Our disaster-relief success hasn’t moved the needle in addressing poverty. We need to ask why
Because churches and faith-based organizations do disaster relief so well, we assume what works for communities recovering from a fire will be what works for a family experiencing food insecurity or poverty. Most victims of poverty suffer because of systems designed to help some people thrive at the expense of others’ languishing.