A few weeks ago, I sat with a Baptist leader who described himself as a “moderate Baptist.” He meant it as a compliment, and most people in our circles would receive it that way. After all, “moderate” is one of...
We are living in violent and deeply troubling times. In New York City, a teenager raised in Philadelphia participated in an attempted terrorist attack on Gracie Mansion. According to security experts, the attack is part of a rising tide of…
Each spring, the sacred calendars of Judaism, Christianity and Islam draw us into stories of liberation, sacrifice and divine mercy. Passover, Easter and the rhythms of revelation in the Quran all echo a central truth: God is present with the…
Public life in America feels increasingly volatile. Anger saturates political discourse. Across the ideological spectrum, our public conversations often mirror the hostility they claim to resist. Many people reach for the language of prophecy to justify the indignation they assume…
A pastor colleague recently told me something I can’t seem to shake: “If I’m not on staff, pastoring or preaching, I don’t go to church on Sundays. I’m just not a pew person.” At first, it sounded like honesty. The…
Days after being released from a year of detention, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a blind Rohingya refugee who had been released from Border Patrol custody and abandoned at a Tim Horton’s 5 miles away from his home in Buffalo, New York, was found dead. He had been in custody…
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article included a quote attributed to Heather Cox Richardson that, upon review, could not be substantiated as authentically from her. That paragraph has been removed. Four days after his faith adviser compared…
One of the key differences I’ve noticed between the United Methodist Church and the religion in which I was raised is the focus on now versus later — “later” being heaven, the afterlife, eternity. The theology of the UMC (or…
On Good Friday, many of the white churches move quickly. They acknowledge the Cross, they sometimes name the injustice, and — almost instinctively — begin inching toward Easter, toward hope, toward resurrection, toward resolution. They quickly leave Friday and rush…
President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission has been assailed from the beginning as a front for advancing evangelical grievances, and now a coalition has sued to stop a forthcoming report from the body. The lawsuit, Interfaith Alliance, et al. v….
American clergy must stand up and preach against President Donald Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship and call it what it is, civil rights activist Bishop William J. Barber II said during a rally in Washington, D.C. “To end birthright citizenship…
For the first time in history, the U.S. Army chief of chaplains has been fired by the Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth made national headlines April 2 for firing Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff. But on the…
A Ten Commandments monument in front of the Arkansas State Capitol and the 2015 law that approved it were ruled unconstitutional by a federal court March 31. Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in Little Rock ordered Arkansas Secretary of…
