Late last month, Liberty University and its former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., settled for an undisclosed amount to end a multi-year, sprawling set of multi-million dollar lawsuits brought by Falwell against the Lynchburg, Va.-based school. For the world’s “largest evangelical university,” the…
Harris represents the ‘thorn’ in Trump’s flesh: Strong, intelligent women
Kamala Harris presents a serious challenge to Donald Trump precisely because she is a strong, intelligent woman. Strong women always have been the “thorns” in the flesh of Trump. He can’t help himself when faced with a woman with nerves…
Responses to Harris’ candidacy provide object lessons in racism and sexism
While it is nothing new, the last few weeks have marked a whole other chapter in ways for us to guard ourselves against racism and sexism in this country. With Kamala Harris now the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party,…
Fletcher Seminary: Progressively risking criticism to act Christianly
Jesse C. Fletcher Seminary in San Antonio is an exciting place for women and men to prepare for Christian ministries of many kinds. The young seminary — whose core values are servant leadership, authentic community, engagement and inclusivity — extends…
Christians must reassert themselves in the public square and demand behavior consistent with belief
Upon meeting each other, the brothers in my esteemed fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, have a unique way of greeting and engaging that establishes and proves membership. We’ve learned interrogating to establish membership is crucial because there are a lot of…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Tia Levings
Tia Levings was deeply embedded in a Christian fundamentalist movement that sanctioned her abuse and complete control by her husband. As she describes in her new memoir, A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy, she fled that tradition to…
What if you decided to love your child before you knew they were gay?
Dear parent, I’m writing today with a tough ask. I’m asking you not only to give a loving reception if your child “comes out” as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. I’m asking you to imagine that day even if…
A bad leader has corrupted the Republican Party and churches that identify with it
From a leadership studies point of view, political parties, even when healthy, aren’t ordinary organizations. They become notoriously dysfunctional when they are unhealthy. Similarly, churches aren’t ordinary organizations. When they follow the patterns of leadership modeled and demonstrated by Jesus,…
We can no longer ignore the toxic forms of ‘evangelism’
Recently, I wrote an analysis about some of the shadow funders behind Project 2025. As part of that article, I pointed out how the form of evangelism embraced by many evangelicals is “dominating, colonialist and culturally offensive” and therefore “morally…