By Bill Leonard For a study of religious and cultural trends in American life, consider reading the wedding announcements in the “Sunday Styles” section of the New York Times for at least a year. New York weddings may represent an…
Anticipating death
By Greg Oman As an Eagle Scout, I learned at a young age the scout motto of “be prepared.” In scouting you learn to prepare for most anything — injury, accident or getting lost in the woods. But not even…
Replacing Sarah Palin
By Brett Younger Remember how sad you felt when WJM-TV was sold and Mary Tyler Moore had to find a new job, Hawkeye came home from Korea or “The Sopranos” faded to black? Many are feeling the same kind of…
Parsing the president
By David Gushee Here is one Christian ethicist’s grammatical analysis of important lines in last week’s thoughtful State of the Union address by President Obama. Obama: “We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of…
The State of the Union, from a different perspective
By David Wilkinson This week our 22-year-old daughter watched President Obama’s second State of the Union address from an interesting vantage point — a men’s shelter in the Southside neighborhood of Tucson, Ariz. Two evenings a week Meredith assists the…
Desperation a wonderful gift
By Amy Butler There are many important things we learn when we attend seminary, and there are many important things we never learn until long after we leave those hallowed halls. One important axiom of ministry I learned long after…
The hard and necessary task of ecumenicalism
By Kate Hanch Do we really want to experience ecumenicalism or diversity? We say we do, but maybe we are afraid of being changed. Most ecumenical events today bring together persons who are like-minded from the start. They may belong…
Being a Baptist in America
By Howard Bess I was born a Baptist. I was born again as a Baptist. I will always be a Baptist. Most people do not realize the meaning of being a Baptist. Theologically, we cover the full spectrum from right…
Tucson memorial service a first step in journey of grief
By Helen Harris The banner outside the auditorium proclaimed: “Thank you for coming. Tucson is hurting.” The message, directed to President Obama at the memorial service for those killed in the nation’s latest tragedy, speaks volumes. We are a nation…