The formal death notice of Herman Paul Pressler III, a former Texas state appellate judge and the chief strategist behind a now 45-year rightward shift in the 14 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, hit me like a brick. For months, I…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Nathaniel Jung-Chul Lee
Nathaniel Jung-Chul Lee is an Episcopal priest who studied with Stanley Hauerwas at Duke, completed a Ph.D. from Baylor and teaches at St. John’s University. We’ve had the opportunity to collaborate on issues of race and faith at the Episcopal…
Bill Walton loved hoops, the Grateful Dead — and people
It is better to give than to receive, in basketball and in life. Let’s start with basketball. When it’s played the right way, there’s nothing more beautiful in sports, whether it’s a March Madness matchup on national TV or a…
A death wish granted
On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. called on the United States to lead the world in what he termed “a radical revolution of values” during a speech at Riverside Church in New York City. He urged the United…
What my grandparents would think of the Southern Baptist Convention today
In 1998, I spent the spring and summer in Rogers, Ark., with my grandparents. I had graduated from college the year before and was floundering, so hanging out for five months with my three living grandparents was a blessing even…
The church’s guide to atheism
Some days, church people might as well be atheists. They say they believe in God, but they live as if God does not matter much. They do not pray that often, read the Bible that much or care for hurting…
Dear Baptist women: ‘We see God’s image in you’
Baptist Women in Ministry offers appreciation to all the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention who voted against the Law amendment because of their commitment to support and affirm women serving as pastors of all kinds in the SBC. We are grateful…
Ben Mandrell should take humility lessons from Bart Barber
I thought I had seen arrogance in Southern Baptist Convention agency heads in my 62 years of living, but I had not heard from Ben Mandrell until today. His cold-hearted arrogance speaking before the SBC annual meeting today is in…
Churches In Ireland Using Music To Engage Young People
A recent youth Mass at St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Dublin started with a song that seemed to fit better in an evangelical worship service than among the Catholic rituals. A five-piece band led the congregation in an upbeat version of…