By Bill Leonard The Millennials are at hand! Millennials — that’s what sociologists call the generation of 18- to 33-year-olds now coming of age in America. A new study from the Pew Research Center details the nature of their unique…
Playing the ‘apocalyptic bomb’ card
By Rodney Kennedy Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, argues that same-sex marriage is a religious freedom issue. Last year, Mohler told an audience at Brigham Young University that Mormons and Southern Baptists face numerous threats to religious…
From libraries to launching pads: cultural shifts in seminaries
According to stereotypes I’ve heard, seminary culture used to be something like this: Future ministers pack up their lives, move cities, rent a small apartment on campus and find a corner in the library in order to learn how to…
Rethinking the atonement
By Chuck Queen Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the first to expound the theory that Jesus’ death was necessary for the satisfaction of God’s honor. This evolved into the theory of penal substitutionary atonement, perhaps most elaborately developed by Princeton…
Enon Tabernacle Rocks!
I thought if I arrived for worship about 20 minutes before the service was scheduled to start I would be there in plenty of time. I was wrong. Even though Enon Tabernacle, which can be found at www.enontab.org, has a…
Modeling change for churches
By Bill Wilson Churches are not the only institutions wrestling with the transition from a tradition-bound orientation toward a more relevant contemporary life. In recent years, I have had the opportunity to watch two universities model how to adapt and…
Church gun giveaways send wrong message
A local church in Troy, NY is promoting a gun giveaway and its not the first church to do so. Churches in Texas and Kentucky have offered gun giveaways. The practice of a church gun giveaway sends the wrong message. Is it wrong…
Where do we go from here: The ex-SBC, part III
By David Gushee Follow David on Twitter: @dpgushee My description and diagnosis of the lack of theological identity and clarity in the ex-SBC world seems to have struck a chord. I don’t hear any dissenting analysis, though perhaps it exists…
Engaging Compassionate Curiosity on Sexuality
In a recent visit to the Wake Forest Divinity School, Baptist minister and PhD candidate Cody Sanders shared reflections on his book, Queer Lessons for Churches on the Straight and Narrow, and the intersection of the church and human sexuality….
Worship: Taking God’s name in vain?
By Naomi King Walker Most parents go through several phases of correcting inappropriate language their children have picked up somewhere — never from home, of course. A former pastor of mine, trying to reframe his 4-year old daughter’s undesirable vocabulary,…
Truth or Merely the Best Story?
I recently and finally had an opportunity to watch the Oscar-award winning movie, “Life of Pi.” While it wasn’t quite as visually stunning on my home screen as I suspect it was in 3D on the big screen, I thoroughly…
A deeper distress at Ole Miss
By Alan Bean The University of Mississippi just can’t outrun its association with bigotry. In 2012, a crowd of angry white students expressed their displeasure in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election. And just last month, a small group of…