Reading Ryan Stollar’s final message through the lens of trauma

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...

Analysis Josh Olds

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Q&A with Gerry Hutchinson on chaplaincy, COVID and banjoes

Military chaplains typically deploy to combat zones with things like crucifixes, Bibles or menorahs. Gerry Hutchinson, a retired Navy captain, always took a banjo. “I played it in multiple services with the Marines in Afghanistan,” he said. “If I got…

Why we must not look away in the current crisis

It was a sermon illustration I will never forget. Our pastor told the story of Father Michael Renninger, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Richmond, Va. While a college student on his way home one weekend, Renninger stopped to…

This is a step toward stopping Muslim travel bans

For more than three years, Americans have watched the “travel ban” saga play out at the White House, in the courts, and even in the streets, with disastrous effects for American Muslims and global communities. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the NO BAN Act,…

Church dismisses pastor who came out as transgender in Sunday sermon

June Joplin, the Canadian Baptist pastor who came out as transgender in her Sunday sermon June 14, has been dismissed from her pulpit at Lorne Park Baptist Church in suburban Toronto. Member Anne McKye, speaking on behalf of the church’s…

What Now? serves up free COVID guidance for churches

“The program incorporates the unique programmatical, missional and theological orientation of individual congregations, as well as the particular needs of surrounding communities.”

Ten reasons for hope in this time of dystopia

I am a huge fan of dystopian literature and film, although I am finding I am not a particularly big fan of actually living in a dystopia. And with staying at home so much, I am not sure my partner…

Q&A with Daniel Bonnell on conveying the sacred in modern art

Daniel Bonnell is a contemplative artist who infuses biblical stories with new light. Because of what he sees as the ambiguity in the current moment, he has started painting on paper grocery bags to symbolize poverty of spirit conveying the…

Maybe we’ll just keep on preaching these five sermons

In 20 years, my wife and I have preached about 950 sermons from the pulpit of Park Road Baptist Church. (Amy and I have been co-pastors in Charlotte since 2000.) We’re both manuscript preachers, and we try to hold a…

At the Portland protests, I’m afraid the bread won’t rise

A few years ago, I was driving home through downtown Portland, Ore., on a Sunday afternoon when I got stuck in a protest. Antifa was on one side of the street. The right-wing group Patriot Prayer was on the other….

Listen to the teenagers: Things are not right

I work in public education, but I’m not a teacher, administrator, custodian, social worker or a member of the cafeteria staff. I’m something far stranger, or, according to at least one student I met during the course of my work…

Is religion more important amid COVID or is this just a phase?

More Americans say religion is increasingly influential in society even as faith’s importance on the personal level remains flat, according to new research by the Gallup Organization.