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...
I must have been in the third or fourth grade when Mama said to me, “When people want prayer in the schools, they are assuming the person who is praying has the same beliefs they do.” And then she added,…
Your church’s purpose is not to make you happy. Your church’s purpose is to help you become like Jesus. Expect the former and live disappointed. Expect the latter and live with deep satisfaction and significance. This conversation has happened enough…
While stuffed Americans put away the Thanksgiving leftovers and turn to the online Black Friday shopping ritual, houses of worship are hoping their members will drop by their websites as well. As the year of COVID approaches its first end,…
Has Amy Coney Barrett’s arrival on the United States Supreme Court changed the court’s perspective on houses of worship and COVID-19 restrictions? Or, were the restrictions imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo simply more draconian than restrictions in California…
The arrival of Advent this year may be more important than it ever has been before. The definition of the word itself should make this reality clear: the “arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” We often speak in…
In the fall of 2009, I finally gave in and signed my life over to Facebook. I figured it would be a great way to reconnect with friends and family. Over time, I began to enjoy sharing my thoughts on…
It’s a story all-too familiar these days: Historic church building for sale. This time, it’s Calvary Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., which has listed its 55,000-square-foot building, which sits on 1.68 acres in downtown Roanoke, at $1.95 million. The historic…
A group of nearly 100 interreligious leaders has offered four suggestions to the incoming Biden-Harris administration on urgent work necessary to restore religious freedom protections. “The Trump administration has taken many actions that undermine religious freedom,” the group’s letter says….
“This will be the first time in 76 years I haven’t spent Thanksgiving with family,” my friend lamented. Not quite teary eyed, but obviously dismayed, she told me that her Thanksgiving would be spent at home with her husband. “For…
With a vaccine for COVID-19 presumably coming sooner than later, the question of who will and who won’t choose to get the vaccine is looming large. And along with that are questions about the role of the church on matters…
It’s a circus many are already long familiar with. Most times when the Nigerian Army comes out with a strong statement on Boko Haram, the terrorist group in northern Nigeria, or its leader, Abubakar Shekau, something usually happens to repudiate…
For two decades, members of Second Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., have found transformational relationships 700 miles away with friends of the Lakota people who live on the Upper Cheyenne Reservation in South Dakota. “To be able to call someone…
