My long interest in American religion doubtless began in the 1950s and ’60s at Everybody’s, Fort Worth’s first real discount store. All kinds of people shopped at Everybody’s, but not everyone was treated equally.
Baylor’s decision on LGBTQ inclusion: Will my alma mater become invested or irrelevant?
If Baylor University doesn’t begin to recognize and respond in Christian love to the diversity of its students we not only have failed to measure up to the model of Jesus; we are identifying with the rigid textual literalism he faced 2,000 years ago.
SBC’s sexual abuse study should include a probe of its own files on reported abuse
The Southern Baptist Convention purports to be studying the problem of clergy sexual abuse. But if the SBC is sincere about wanting to get a handle on this scandal and to understand its institutional failures, it should authorize an independent commission to delve into its files containing reports of abuse.
How to know if your church will be alive in 10 years
Only 8 percent of American churchgoers attend congregations of more than 1,000 in weekly attendance. Yet the churches attended by 8 percent of Christians are held up as the models for every other church to emulate in order not to die.
Whose ‘principles of faith’ are being manifested on Trump’s watch?
Mercy, justice and humility are the marks of authentic Christianity. I see none of these in the principles of faith by which our president operates. The only thing worse than the failure or refusal of people of faith to see this reality is to remain silent.
5 things Protestant churches in the U.S. can learn from Eastern Orthodoxy
The difference in liturgical calendars at this season of the church year provides an opportunity to consider some lessons for American Protestantism from the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christendom.
‘It is Well’: hope amid fear after facing the ‘C word’ 4 times
My life’s journey has taken me through cancer four times. On rare occasions, I was able to confront the repeated news of recurring cancer with a bit of confidence. Most of the time, I was forced to my knees by the demon of cancer and begged God for a miracle my dad never received.
How can post-evangelical Christians talk about the God of the Bible as a loving God?
How can post-evangelical Christians talk about a loving God when the God described in many biblical texts appears to be otherwise? We must explain why, evaluated by the standards of Jesus, God comes off so badly in much of the Bible.
Shining the light of reproductive justice and progressive theology on the strategy of 6-week abortion bans
Six-week abortion bans result from the theology of one group of Christians. However, they restrict access to abortion for all people, regardless of their religious convictions. In so doing, these bans violate core Baptist commitments to separation of church and state and religious liberty, as well as freedom of the individual conscience.
Anxious worshippers are present every Sunday. But concern for safety must never displace welcoming ‘the other’
Our churches are filled with people like me who tend to be fearful and anxious. Keeping our sacred spaces safe is essential, but it must not be at the expense of welcoming “the other” in our midst.
Earth Day: an urgent call to creation care and environmental justice
Earth Day is a reminder that environmental justice and climate change solutions must move beyond a new appreciation of creation to include listening to and learning from the poor and marginalized of our own communities and the voices of those from around the world.
Fire in the Cathedral of Notre Dame: a history of the present moment
As Good Friday moves toward Easter, churches across the world reassert their calling as the Body of the living Christ, not arcane museums.