In his lovely, gentle way, he was professionally pissed off, never fully comprehending how anyone could ever imagine a God who was not an advocate for the oppressed.
Inspired by youth, churches rising to oppose gun violence
Inspired by the concept that nothing changes if nothing changes, people of faith are responding the gun crisis by organizing everything from congregational letter-writing campaigns to strategy conferences to local gun buybacks. Clergy and laypeople involved say the key is doing something — anything — rather than caving in to the enormity of the gun violence issue.
Courageous conversations are no longer optional. It’s time to cross boundaries.
We’re going to have to do more, to move past talking (even preaching!) and into the messy and painful work of deep conversation held together by real relationship. In fact, it’s increasingly my conviction that this may be the heart of the faith community’s work in this moment: building authentic relationships upon which these difficult conversations can rest.
Are public attitudes toward clergy changing? It’s complicated.
Few ministers need coaches or surveys to tell them what Americans think of clergy these days. They can rely on their own experiences for that. Amy Butler does. Based on interactions with strangers on flights, at parties and in other…
Facts or truth? What’s keeping you grounded?
These days the words of the Psalmist keep coming to mind: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills; From where shall my help come?” I imagine that when he wrote these words, the chaos of his life was swirling around…
The moment the Church has been working for
Objectively speaking, there has been very little in the political world that one might call good about the months leading up to the election. Now that the election is over (sort of), for Christian leaders everywhere there is at least…
In the wake of Trump’s election, a meeting in the Ladies’ Room
Okay, ladies. Huddle up. We’re having this meeting in the Ladies’ Room because we have a serious problem that can no longer be ignored. You don’t have to be even all that in touch with world events to know that…
On social media, laments and hope following Donald Trump election
God surely got an earful Wednesday from Americans emotional about the results of the 2016 presidential election. But God wasn’t alone. Social media heard plenty, too. First thing in the morning, Americans began posting about hopes dashed, dreams fulfilled and…
When telling the truth is painful — and affirming
So here’s how last week went down for me. It actually all began almost two weeks ago when I was sitting in an airport about a 12-hour plane ride away from home. The final presidential debate wasn’t on TV anywhere,…