“Think they’ll have everyone wear sackcloth and ashes at CBF General Assembly this year?” I texted those words to a fellow Baptist clergywoman after reading the State of Women in Baptist Life report. I wasn’t kidding either. I desperately want…
Finding inspiration from Fannie Lou Hamer when freedom is under assault
This weekend, I have found strength and solidary in the words of Galatians 5: “Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit.” In this same chapter, we are told that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free. All…
The French Dreyfus Affair and Trump’s Big Lie
We are witnessing an extraordinarily disturbing juxtaposition in U.S. politics right now. In Washington, the January 6 Committee, primarily using testimony from Republicans and former Trump administration officials, is once again shredding Donald Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election…
Independence Day: Not to celebrate but to reflect
What do we call the American holiday coming up soon? The Fourth of July? Or Independence Day? A long-time friend answered that question for me in a dialogue we had two years ago. “It’s just the Fourth of July,” she…
Progress on sexual abuse in the SBC? Not so fast
As Russian tanks, troops and bombs poured into Ukraine, imagine if President Joe Biden had announced to the world: “This is shocking. We pledge to help Ukrainians save their lives and freedom for one year. Next year, though, we may…
Reflections on my mother’s funeral: The heart has reasons
While I was writing my first book, my 85-year-old mother died unexpectedly. She was in an assisted living facility, but she had no serious health issues. She entered the hospital severely dehydrated and was in acute renal failure, although she…
When ‘orthodoxy’ won’t hold: The SBC and the rest of us
In a May 26 New York Times column, “The Southern Baptist Moral Meltdown,” conservative commentator David Brooks wrote: “They dedicated their lives to a gospel that says that every human being is made in the image of God. They dedicated…
Seven suggestions for preventing conflict before it happens
As surely as we can expect thunderstorms in the summer, hurricanes in the fall and blizzards in the winter, the church is about to experience a season of conflict that threatens to unravel our faith communities. Much of this is…
The gospel according to mammals
If I were not a pastor, my life would look very, very different. In fact, after I graduated with an undergraduate degree in anthropology, I had two options to consider: one of my professors encouraged me to apply for an…
How God used Jay Bakker to teach me about race and loving all people
I remember it almost like yesterday when the new kid walked into the large youth group I attended at First Baptist Church of Orlando. As the new kid walked in, he stood out not just to me but to others…
When a teenager gets kicked to the curb by Christian parents
Editor’s note: This launches a series of opinion pieces over the coming weeks that will address the problems created by “ex-gay” ministries and those who continue to practice or advocate for the now-discredited forms of conversion therapy. The following column…
Unzipped: How (not) to commute
There is a zipper merge lane near the interstate exit roughly a mile or so from my house. If you find yourself confused by the phrase “zipper merge lane,” don’t worry, very few licensed drivers in my ZIP Code know…