Note: This article discusses suicide, child sexual abuse and domestic violence. It may be distressing for some readers. On June 30, child liberation theologian and abuse survivor advocate Ryan Stollar died by suicide, following a lengthy struggle with his...
First ECFA survey of church governance trends reveals which boards are most effective.
Politics trumps God for most Americans when it comes to conversations with their friends.
In the United States, we love our sports. There’s something both weird and fascinating about it. I’ve never been what you would call a diehard fan (although the 10 years I lived in the Midwest was enough to turn my…
When I returned to Haiti for my seventh short-term mission trip, I wondered how I can do good and not harm. The question of doing good is inherent in short-term mission trips. In other words, how can Christians engage in…
Sometimes, pastors need a place to get away, a place to go where they can recharge between sermons and committee meetings and the like. They need a sanctuary from the sanctuary — a space where they can delve into Scripture, pray…
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America-Bautistas por la Paz, the world’s largest network of Baptist peacemakers with members in four countries, has issued a statement of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. “It is past time for an…
Sandra Wisdom-Martin, leader of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas since 2010, has been named eighth executive director of the national women’s auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention founded in 1888. Wisdom-Martin, who served as women’s missions and ministries director for…
Pope Francis has created a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic church.
Knowing many of my pro-life friends feel torn between an unpopular but highly qualified pro-choice candidate in Hillary Clinton and an incompetent narcissist who poses a unique threat to American democracy in Donald Trump, I’d like to make a proposal.
A friend recently had surgery and we wanted to send flowers as she recuperated. Kathy asked, “What do you think — a bouquet of flowers or a plant?” Knowing this friend has a new house and could later use the…
Many of us are still sleep-deprived after two weeks of political conventions. Part pageantry, part spectacle, and part the inevitable chaos of democracy, these quadrennial gatherings summon our collective hopes and fears and urge us to take the long view….
Grace and Main Fellowship is an ecumenical, grassroots community development and social justice ministry located in the heart of Danville, Va. Ascension Lutheran Church is a traditional, predominantly white ELCA congregation located nearby. “These are two organizations that would probably…
