I still can see the face of the distraught mother who came to me after I had preached at a church in Nebraska. She approached me tentatively; I noticed her, but as I was signing books. I thought maybe she…
How I realized I had been shaped by patriarchal views of pastors
When I read Victoria Robb Powers’ story describing the confusion she felt when she encountered a Baptist female senior pastor for the first time, I recalled two similarly disorienting experiences. One incident was completely understandable, in light of my Southern…
My home state is no longer safe for my family
My family and I are refugees in our own country. I’m just trying to be a good parent and love my kids, but the state that always has been my home no longer is a safe place for me and…
Saying the quiet part out loud
Isn’t it eye-opening when people say the quiet parts out loud? When they do, you learn what they really think. That was the case last month when a Republican lawmaker from Alaska attended a House Judiciary Committee meeting where representatives…
Tennessee representative who proposed execution by ‘hanging by a tree’ needs a history lesson
There’s more than the usual political craziness attached to the recent remark by Tennessee Rep. Paul Sherrell to bring back “hanging by a tree” as an amendment to a firing squad bill. There’s a denial of horrible history. This is…
Letter to the Editor: Call out leaders’ bad behavior
Letter to the Editor March 13, 2023 Dear Editor: In her book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, New York Times bestselling author Anne Lamott writes: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted…
Three years ago today, our world changed
Three years ago today, when the pandemic hit, I was barely shy of nine months pregnant. We knew our daughter, George, would be born with Turner Syndrome. She faced open heart surgery at a day old in April 2020, a…
Sometimes it’s not a good idea to quote the Bible
Just because you’re quoting the Bible doesn’t mean you’re not embracing racism. That’s a lesson Coach Mark Adams of Texas Tech University learned the hard way last week. While the comments that got him fired were discouraging and inappropriate, what’s…
Shelter from the storm: The Asbury revival as Woodstock 2.0
The Baptist church of my youth didn’t have a revival until we called a Southern Baptist pastor from Texas. Then we had a revival whether we liked it or not. I walked the aisle on the final night. At 20…