The recent surge of COVID cases led one of my (Carol) pastoral colleagues to lament, “It feels like we are living a terrible version of the film Ground Hog Day.” In Columbia, Mo., where I live, we have more COVID…
Hymn stories: ‘There is a balm in Gilead’
There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul. Healing is a word saturating our culture from the media promoting products to heal or relieve a myriad…
Letter to white American evangelicals
What follows is a creative imagining of what Martin Luther King Jr. might say to white American evangelicals today. It was written by Joel A. Bowman Sr. in the spirit of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Dear white American evangelicals:…
Are you sleeping through the revolution?
In the last chapter of the last book he wrote titled, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, Martin Luther King recalled the Washington Irving story of Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep for 20 years on a…
Once more, a knock at midnight
A Knock at Midnight is the title of a sermon Martin Luther King Jr. preached in 1967 on Jesus’ parable of a man who knocks on his neighbor’s door at midnight asking for bread to serve guests in their home…
More people are moving to my city, but fewer are going to church
It’s like I don’t recognize my own neighborhood. It happened overnight. Who are we? Where are we going? What are we becoming? And … what’s next? I have been a pastor for two decades, and so much has changed in…
It’s time for male clergy to speak up for reproductive rights
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s hearing of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, people around the country are waking up to the fact that Roe v. Wade is in peril. Among those sounding the alarm have been a group of…
The urgency of humility for the healing of land and hearts
As we enter 2022 with no little trepidation, I write of the urgency of humility for the healing of our land and hearts. Someone has quipped, “Few speak of humility humbly.” Nevertheless, I proceed. The word “humility” comes from the…
Facing up to suffering in a new year
As I sat in my living room watching Ryan Seacrest ring in the new year, I couldn’t help but think that, although it’s a new year, the theme seems to be the same across America. Many of my brothers and…
I’m aiming for a kind of fresh resolve to no longer continue producing solutions for the future based on problems from the past
It isn’t at all novel to admit this to you, dear reader, but New Year’s resolutions are gratingly unbearable; even under the best conditions. But I must say that this year, there is a uniquely hollow and darkly comedic quality…
7 signs it’s time to move on
As a full-time pastor for more than 25 years, I’ve never been without employment — until now. In December 2021, I stepped down as the senior pastor of my church without another ministry position or job of any kind. Leading…
Remembering the real Martin Luther King: Forgive us, Lord
Schools and streets have been named after Martin Luther King Jr. Churches and libraries are named after him. He is the only African American and the only American clergy honored with a national holiday. In many countries around the world,…