As if the American church isn’t divided enough, it appears we’re about to roll back the clock 50 years on abortion rights and throw more jet fuel on the culture war bonfires consuming our congregations. For some churches and pastors,…
Alito and public opinion reveal the link between Roe and a broader white Christian nationalist agenda
Like many of you, I’m still taking in the bombshell news — broken by Politico Monday night — that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed a constitutional right…
A leak: The truth of a sick nation
The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period…
The truth and nothing but the truth
I spoke for more than an hour and a half with a FOX News journalist yesterday. That interview ranged across Critical Race Theory, book banning and censorship, racism in American history, faith and spiritual practice, and what, at its best,…
Here’s how to make Mother’s Day more honest at church
As I sat around a table with a group of women, all of whom were either clergy or clergy wives, we began discussing the difficulties of creating a life around ministry. We all had different stories, different moments in our…
On this Mother’s Day, will churches act more like Rome or Christ?
I’ve never been as welcomed at a church as when I was pregnant. At the time I was pregnant with my first child, we were looking for a church home in Dayton, Ohio. When my husband and I would approach…
Why I wrote a book about Asian Americans being invisible
My new book, Invisible, came out during the pandemic in November 2021. Since then, I have done numerous presentations and talks on Zoom and podcast interviews as well as a few in-person book talks. One of the most frequent questions…
The original sin of the church
Last week we observed Shoah, or Holocaust, Remembrance Day. It is well, then, to consider the original sin of the church. If America’s original sin is slavery, the original sin of the church is anti-Judaism and antisemitism. Before the New…
What makes for great preaching?
What makes for great preaching? I’m increasingly coming to believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder — or hearer, in this case. Here are a few things I’ve learned with the “wisdom” of age: There are a lot…
Letter to the Editor: Two facts evangelical Christians need to consider in potential sexual orientation laws
Letter to the Editor April 29, 2022 Dear Editor: As state legislatures across the nation consider — and adopt — new laws targeting members of the LGBTQ community, there are two inconvenient truths evangelical Christians ought to consider: First, the…
Eastertide: The outing of the church
We have entered Eastertide, the liturgical season beginning with Easter and ending 50 days later on Pentecost (also known as Whitsunday). The formulation of this season parallels the period in Judaism between the first day of Pesach (Passover, marking their…
600,000 prisoners will be released this year, and we need to do more to prepare them — and us — for their reentry to society
“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”— Matthew 25:36 Innumerable dramatizations have made arrest, trial, conviction and prison imaginable to many Americans….