It is encouraging and difficult to digest the information in the report on the State of Women in Baptist Life. One set of numbers that caught my eye is dedicated to the number of women ordained in the Baptist tradition….
The night I administered infant baptism as an act of compassion
Note: This article includes a description of a stillborn birth. It seemed to be a normal evening. I was at home watching TV when I received an urgent call from one of the members of my congregation who needed my…
Choosing the underdog
Growing up, I was short and stocky, which made me a less-than-prime candidate for athletics. In seventh grade, I wanted to play football like my friends. I was too small to be a lineman and too slow to be in…
This is my body
The traumas and burdens inflicted by COVID-19 are borne in our bodies, brains, hearts and communities. Physician Bessle van der Kolk explores the connection between trauma, the brain and the body in his fascinating book The Body Keeps the Score….
Is there a balm in Gilead? The church in post-Roe America
The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah cried out on behalf of his people and nation. It was wracked by rampant greed and deceit, and the lives of the poor were being trampled upon. “Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no…
Weaponizing America: Every neighbor a threat
Something clicked within me recently while half-listening to a news report. The report concerned yet another police killing of a citizen and, as I recall, the reporter’s words went something like this: “Police chased the man on foot for two…
As a pastor, knowing it’s time to move on comes with joy and sorrow
Scanning the last page of my notes, I throw myself into the benediction with the force of a poorly hung door caught unexpectantly by a summer breeze. I attempt to hold the moment by stitching together a series of detached…
Moving from trauma to action
I was talking with someone very close to me recently who said something important I want to share: Our country has so many things going wrong, so many things really to feel ashamed about in a way, that it seems…
On women in church leadership: When you know better, you do better
The report on The State of Women in Baptist Life is only a couple of weeks old and already has caused quite a stir. And rightly so. From excellent opinion pieces calling for repentance to recognition and a call for…
The end of the status quo: Why white people must overthrow white racism
Last month at the American Cathedral in Paris, where I serve as canon theologian, I gave a talk on my journey from “quirky American theologian” (as the UK’s Greenbelt Festival advertised me when they invited me to give talks on…
‘The problem with a theocracy is everyone wants to be Theo’
No sooner had the Supreme Court of the United States begun releasing its summer decisions than the word “theocracy” started trending across social media in headings like, “Supreme Court Accused of Starting A ‘Theocracy’ Following Public School Prayer Ruling” and…
A conservative case for why the church should lead the way in being ‘woke’
I’ve always been perplexed by my fellow conservative Christians’ overall rejection of “wokeness.” After all, the gospel is all about repentance from our harmful behaviors and a renewing of the mind. Who amongst us that has walked with the Lord…