Flawed heroes are the only ones available. This should not surprise us. Take biblical heroes for example. A friend and I have been discussing the Noah story lately. My friend is not taken with Noah. As he notes, Noah tells…
If you do not have love…
With a population of 3,400, you wouldn’t expect Allendale, South Carolina to bring much to the table when it comes to welcoming the stranger. This area has been noted numerous times as the poorest county in the state. They do not like…
A new theme song for CBF?
On a recent Sunday, our church choir sang “Find Us Faithful” as the anthem in the traditional worship service. I have always liked this song that was written by Jon Mohr and popularized by Steve Green. In fact, we used…
If you can say it to Jesus, you can say it to anyone
One of my mentors in the area of conflict mediation was Bill Treadwell. I loved that guy. I miss him. He had so much wisdom about how to deal with people in congregations. He was as much right-brained as I…
Spiritual genius — an evening with Krista Tippett
Human beings are the earth’s most complex and perplexing creatures. The human creature remains a mystery that can’t yet be solved or understood in its many depths. Thus began Krista Tippett in her talk Tuesday evening at Luther Seminary in Saint…
Six assumptions that allow white evangelicals to flout biblical norms
By Alan Bean In The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement, Steven Teles describes how the conservative movement was able to undermine and largely replace what he calls the Liberal Legal Network (LLN for short). By the late 1960s, liberal…
Dear church staff candidate:
Dear church staff candidate: Your resumé matters. It matters so much that you ought to have a knowledgeable person proofread it before you send it out. I’ve just returned from a search committee meeting at church where a committee of…
Would you wear a hijab for a day?
February 1st was World Hijab Day. For those of you who might not know, hijab is the head covering worn by some Muslim women. The idea was to invite women who do not hijab, both Muslim and women of other…
Let’s drop the kids at church and go get some coffee
In a recent conversation with leaders in a congregation they wondered about people who drop children off at church–particularly on Sunday mornings–and then go to a coffee shop to have some “alone time”. They indicated this was an increasing challenge in…