Last fall, I had the great honor of serving as a visiting fellow at the Oxford Center for Religion and Culture, headed by the renowned Black liberation theologian Anthony G. Reddie. Anthony and I became fast friends, and we had…
On Marjorie Taylor Greene declaring Raphael Warnock is not a Christian
Marjorie Taylor Greene, having, in my imagination, matriculated at the All-American Nationalist Theological Institute in Dalton, Ga., has set up shop in the halls of Congress to make declarations about people being Christian or not being Christian. Greene, no shrinking…
Want to get a sense of what it’s like to be a clergywoman? Watch ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’
When Iron Man, the first installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was released in 2008, my husband and I went to see it on one of our weekly date nights. We were obviously out of ideas for activities that would…
Two burgers and a shake
David is in the mood to talk. Me, too. I haven’t seen him for a while. We spend at least half an hour bantering about life, God and the devil. “He’s after me,” David tells me, referring to Old Scratch….
Peter’s un-healing of Petronilla’s holy ‘palsy’ in the Coptic Act of Peter has a lesson for us today about disability
The Acts of Peter is a fragmented, early Christian text made up of three parts: the “Coptic Act of Peter,” the “Acts of Peter the Apostle,” and the “Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Peter.” These writings are not included in…
How men have controlled women using the Bible
Christianity has utilized a biased reading of the sacred biblical texts to privilege men as leaders in church, home and in most vocations. From the Old Testament to the 21st century, men authored, translated and edited most of Scripture and…
Hooray for the hymnal!
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Several months…
Learning humility together as we read the Bible
Just as the Bible itself was a community project, so also God invites us to interpret Scripture in community. Yet anybody who has been in church for five minutes knows Christians disagree on how to apply the Bible in everyday…
Lessons in coffin carrying
Years ago, as a pastor, I noticed when one of our ordinarily regularly attending senior adult men stopped attending his men’s Bible study class, as well as Sunday morning worship. I contacted the man I’ll call Bill and asked if…
What if grace is more amazing than we thought?
I once thought grace was pretty amazing — Jesus dying on the cross, all my sins forgiven, a guaranteed place in heaven after I died. But what if grace is even more amazing? As a child I learned about “Amazing…
Amid the chaos of war, I witnessed Ukrainians seeking safety and hoping for peace
Few people were flying into Warsaw in the first half of March. Those who were displayed a similar intensity — an unpolished, gut-level sense of mission. Russia had invaded Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24. A half dozen former U.S. servicemen…
The student loan forgiveness application should be the first step, not the last
The student loan forgiveness application is now live, and everyone should apply. This application is a result of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to help working and middle-class federal student loan borrowers transition back to regular payments as pandemic support ends….