Recently Baptist News Global ran an article about the utility of congregational polity in the 21st century. The article raised a number of interesting and informative points about the future of congregational polity with respect to Millennials. Certainly the future…
New frontiers for LGBTQ-affirming churches
More and more congregations are undertaking intentional, prayerful processes of discernment and action toward becoming inclusive, affirming, and justice-practicing congregations for LGBTQ people (there are about 100 churches now in the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists). While many churches…
Joyless about ‘Amoris Lætitia’
The Catholic Church, a multi-century institution, moves at glacier speed. Pope Francis’s recent post-synodal apostolic exhortation finally moved the Church into the 20th century. Like his earlier apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (EG), Francis attempts a joyful evangelical call for a…
A coarsened culture and the community of Jesus
Joshua DuBois, former head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, identified in 2010 four points of focus at the intersection of the political, spiritual and social realms. Three of those — loss of fatherhood roles, attempts…
The power of ‘and’
Our culture seems to have shelved “and” in favor of “or.” Liberal or conservative. Prolife or pro-choice. Gun rights or gun control. Let’s be honest. Polarization sells more news (and more politics) than consensus. Elton Trueblood once wrote that the…
Prairie burning and new life
On a recent road trip through southern Kansas, I witnessed a spring rite, the burning of the prairie. The billowing smoke and red glow of distant fires are quite the vista — and a sign of renewal. The distinctive smell…
Desert encounter — a new stance for the Church?
To my delight and at times surprise, I’ve recently found myself involved in different conversations of ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. I’ve also witnessed a growth in other ecumenical groups in our area, and continue to learn of colleagues in different…
How a résumé-driven mentality is crippling our culture
I come from a long line of folks who cannot abide The Big Head. I don’t know if this malady is well known north of the Mason-Dixon Line, but down here in the South, everybody knows about The Big Head….
The gift of Donald Trump: uniting a diverse constituency
To me, the silver lining in the Trump campaign is that my friends on either side of the aisle are agreeing with one another. Obviously a lot of people out there are voting for Trump, but at least in my…
The night I tripped over three homeless people
The day of I had finished my part of a meeting with a congregational leadership team. They had other agendas to address that did not concern me. They invited me to feel free to leave. As I left the building…
That’s not your seat: Regulating the seating arrangements at God’s dinner party
“That’s not your seat” is a phrase used by Morgan DePerno, a student in my church history class, as the title for her recent review of Martin Luther King Jr’s Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. For Morgan, “that’s not…
No great wisdom, just a willingness to speak out
I’m not a “media hog.” I really don’t go looking for ways to get noticed, quoted, published, but it’s not been uncommon recently for a local television station reporter to show up seeking a voice from “our perspective.” It didn’t…