Note: This post is an excerpt from a chapter titled “Juneteenth” in the author’s forthcoming book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy, which will be published September 8 and is now available for pre-order....
“Pastor, I just don’t understand how we got here.” Now if you feel like you just dropped in on a conversation that had already started, that’s understandable. Let me catch you up on a fascinating chat I participated in the…
A former youth pastor at one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship churches was arrested last week on one charge of sexual indecency with a child, according to a report in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Keenan Hord, 32, worked at a…
Three countries. Four trips. Twelve flights. And more hours in vehicles than I can count (seriously, I tried on my phone calculator and gave up). This summer has been filled with my favorite pastime: traveling. Exploring foreign places and embracing…
One of the most prominent voices for Reformed theology and church planting among Southern Baptists announced Aug. 28 he is taking an indefinite leave of absence from preaching and teaching due to what he called inappropriate online chats with a…
A collaboration of former United Methodist large-membership churches has announced creation of an association to provide accountability and resources without the constraints of a denomination. The Foundry Network will launch in September, according to an announcement posted on Facebook by…
Week after week, the Border Church sees migrants and would-be asylees on its southern side. As migrant waves wax and wane and U.S. budgets rise and fall, our weekly work with migrants awaiting entry into the U.S. near San Diego…
A new Biden administration rule designed to “preserve and fortify” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was welcomed by immigration advocates who quickly added that the Aug. 24 White House action is not enough to permanently safeguard Dreamers. “The…
One recent slow morning in August, the grocery store circulars in the newspaper caught my attention. And I began to wonder how things might be different if certain fortunes were reversed. Instead of “back-to-school” it’s “back-to-basic-training” discount offers. Imagine the…
Within hours of its announcement, the new White House plan to forgive $10,000 to $20,000 per person in student loan debt became a theological dividing line as much as a political one. Critics of the debt forgiveness initiative turned to…
Rich Villlodas describes himself humbly and with certainty: He’s a husband to his wife, Rosie, a father to two beautiful children, a son, a pastor and a follower of Jesus. Through his books and his tenure as pastor of New…
It turns out there’s more than a hairs-width of difference between the theology of the TheoBros and most everyone else. The Christian Twitterverse has been aflame the past few days about an article published on the website of the conservative…
Back on May 1, 2022, Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, posted an article in Decision Magazine titled, “The Eternal Peril of Progressive Christianity.” In this article, Graham expressed many poignant statements about the progressive Christian movement…
