By Miguel De La Torre To engage in justice is to do it with, and from, the perspective of those whom society considers nobodies. While many within the Eurocentric context question the existence of God, those on the margins are…
Desperately seeking 20-somethings.
If you’re a long time reader of my work (thanks Mom!) you’ve likely come to the not-so-startling conclusion that a great deal of my ramblings are primarily concerned with my struggles, disagreements, dissatisfactions, and overall existential and sometimes very physical inabilities to be…
Churches and water balloons
Sitting in a dunking booth at a children’s water day is a wake up. Cold water splashed on me as children enjoyed hitting the target to dump water on the preacher. We raised money for a playground and we had…
Moral Monday thoughts on Isaac Backus
By Andrew Barnhill Hundreds of clergy and laity from throughout North Carolina have made their way to Raleigh this summer for a series of protests called Moral Mondays. Organized by the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, the crowd of…
You’re not the boss of me
How well do you respond when you find yourself in the middle of what you consider to be a power struggle or a challenge to your authority? Power struggles can happen when complete strangers won’t let us park where we…
Trayvon and Abdulrahman
By Leroy Seat The name Trayvon, sadly, has become a household name in the United States and elsewhere, but many do not know the name Abdulrahman. Both young men were U.S. citizens born in 1995, and both were tragically killed…
Enthusiastic about our Fellowship
On the night of June 28, I posted to Facebook this status update from my hotel room in Greensboro, North Carolina: From Wednesday’s pre-assembly Baptist Women in Ministry celebration to the closing General Assembly communion service tonight, I’ve never felt…
Zimmerman verdict reveals flawed jury selection process
A jury comprised of five white women and one Latina has acquitted George Zimmerman on all charges. This outcome was largely determined by the way we select juries in America. Imagine that two women who looked like Trayvon Martin were…
Why church matters
By Amy Butler “The true alchemists do not change lead into gold,” observed American author William H. Gass. “They change the world into words.” As one who spends a lot of time trying to change the world into words –…
What is traditional? What is contemporary?
Just what makes a church “traditional” these days? As someone who has written extensively and spoken to religious gatherings on the subject of “traditional” churches, I’m increasingly finding it hard to draw an exacting definition. But by the same token,…
Longing for home
By Molly T. Marshall One cannot be in Israel very long without encountering significant conversation about “the right of return” – the privilege of any Jew in the world to come to the modern State of Israel and claim citizenship….
What if a generation of women in ministry planted new congregations?
It is hard to believe it has been more than 35 years since I was ready to leave seminary in Louisville, KY for what I thought would be my first full-time church pastorate. Although I had grown up in Baltimore…