James Talarico isn’t the only Democratic candidate making faith a calling card of his campaign this year. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed will face Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Aug. 4. In a fundraising letter this week,...
Joseph is not a dominant figure in the nativity stories, but in Matthew’s story of his encounter with the angel (1:18-25), he functions as a kind of model for each of us. Consider how Joseph responded when he discovered that…
Amy Butler preached this sermon at The Riverside Church on Christmas Eve this year. Well, here we are, and it’s Christmas Eve, again. On the edge of yet another year, we hear the ancient story read, picture a peace-filled stable…
Love, marriage, sex and parenting comprise what many Christians believe is “traditional marriage,” unchanged since the Garden of Eden. Yet for most societies throughout history, including most Christian ones, the expectation that all four could be confined to one relationship was considered impractical, irrational or at best undesirable. The first in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
In addition to being an ordained minister, I am also a standup comedian. One thing I’ve always wanted to do at the end of my set (and my sermons) was a mic drop — that moment when a comedian…
If you have seen Will Ferrell’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, it’s hard to hear Luke’s Christmas story without thinking of the “baby Jesus grace.” Ricky Bobby is a driver not a thinker, and it shows. “Dear lord…
A rough election is turning into a rough Christmas for some. But the holiday blues will come screeching to a halt after a conversation with Abraham Deng. Deng, 35, was one of thousands of “Lost Boys of Sudan” who, as…
While Bill O’Reilly and Fox News get much credit for seasonal claims of a “War on Christmas” waged by the secular left, a progressive blog site says the perennial cultural clash finds roots in a brand of early 20th century…
A federal appeals court has turned down an appeal by an Arkansas couple claiming wrongdoing by Southern Baptist Convention officials when they declined to renew their lease at the Glorieta Conference Center and instead sold the campus. Kirk Tompkins, who along with…
Just as the book earned widespread notoriety and scathing critiques nearly a decade ago, the film is garnering its own praise and condemnation.
Donald Trump’s Inaugural weekend will include an interfaith prayer service at Washington’s National Cathedral, a customary event but complicated this year by anger over the president-elect’s rhetoric on Muslims, immigrants and others.
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Jeff Davenport, now serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Hurricane, W.Va. Previously he was pastor of Calvary…
Amid a bitter presidential campaign and an increasingly anxious and divided public, “fake news” has become not only a political device but a profitable business model. Today, more than ever, people of faith must step forward to challenge misinformation and…
