The stories of Graham Platner and Roy Moore, although unfolding in different parties and different eras, trace the same institutional pattern: Modern political parties elevate outsiders when they are useful and abandon them when they become inconvenient. Platner and Moore...
By Molly T. Marshall What makes possible a visionary such as Martin Luther King Jr.? What sustains the hope of an Aung San Suu Kyi, a Mahatma Gandhi or a Marian Wright Edelman? They envision a different world and then…
The recent hoopla over using the Duke University chapel for Muslim prayers raises interesting issues, and is just another sign of our highly-religious nation’s deeply troubled understanding of its own convictions. The value of religious principles to our nation’s values…
Seldom do I meet a pastor who, when they find out I’m in fundraising, asks about raising money. Ironically, most seminaries don’t teach this elemental aspect of ministry—congregations are nonprofits; contributions are elemental to their growth. However, before congregations and…
In my search for a church home during graduate school, I attended over ten churches in two years, each with their own different style of communication. Some handed out a tan, tri-fold piece of paper by which I could follow…
January 20, 1993, was a big day for the woman who was born in 1928 and named Marguerite Ann Johnson. You probably don’t know her by that name, for she was introduced as Maya Angelou before reading one of her…
By Jeff Brumley Downtown churches struggling to find their niche in ministry may want to try what First Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., has done: look and listen. Paying attention to young voices within its membership and to underserved needs…
By Bob Allen The leader of Kentucky’s largest religious organization voiced opposition Jan. 20 to a bill introduced in the state legislature legalizing the medical use of marijuana. “The very idea of thwarting the authority of the Food and Drug…
By Bob Allen An ordained Alliance of Baptists minister and graduate of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond has been named executive director for The Beatitudes Society, a national leadership development organization seeking to bring progressive Christian voices to the public…
