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 watch the news on television every day, more than once a day. In the past several months of election rancor, I often watched or listened all day. In that period of all-day news, I sometimes neglected the more weighty…
When we became the co-pastors of Park Road Baptist Church in 2000, we were introduced to the Park Road Clergy, an informal fellowship of six churches within about a mile of our office. For 20 years, six pastors have met…
It takes about equal parts courage and faith to minister to immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. At least it does for Lorenzo Ortiz, a Texan from Laredo who operates feeding ministries and shelters for migrants across the Rio Grande River…
The white evangelical church remains “the most powerful force” in hindering work for racial justice and reconciliation in America, according to religion researcher Robert P. Jones. In a Nov. 16 opinion piece written for NBC News, Jones made an explicit…
For the first time, a woman has been elected vice president of the United States. It only took 231 years. Kamala Harris carries the hopes and ambitions of many generations of women of all colors who aspire to lead in…
Here’s the first thing you think when you get COVID-19: “I wish I could turn back time.” If only I hadn’t gone … or stayed … or passed by … or did whatever it was that caused me to catch…
As news of another megachurch pastor’s indiscretions makes headlines, not only in The New York Times, but in outlets such as Vanity Fair, People and even Page Six, it’s a reminder that when leaders abuse their power, they do so…
By heritage, Kyle Reese is as Baptist as they come. He earned degrees from a Baptist university and two Baptist seminaries. He served as pastor of Baptist churches in Texas and Florida and is past moderator of the Cooperative Baptist…
On the eve of the Nov. 3 presidential election, a Nigerian of Yoruba extraction in Houston named Ayodele was asked who he would vote for. “I’m for Biden,” Ayodele replied, but he immediately went on to say, in a tone…
His name never was mentioned, but a Nov. 17 panel discussion on how to restore civility in public discourse drew a portrait of Donald Trump and his disciples as examples of what must be overcome. And both speakers were conservative…
The spectacle seemed to dominate every news station, barber shop, beauty shop and church fellowship hall across the nation. For months on end, an excerpt of a sermon offered in the sacred confines of the Black church had taken center…
I am one of those white Baby Boomer guys who has screwed up everything — or at least the finger has pointed often our way. I don’t totally deny it. I grew up in Oklahoma, Tulsa. When I went off…
