Without meaning to do so, Henry Louis Gates’ two-part series on “The Black Church” dramatically exposed the gaping chasm that divides the way Black Christians and privileged white Christians — especially white evangelicals — understand God, protest and politics. For…
Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again
For the second year, denominational annual meetings are being derailed and reworked due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will have an urgent effect on the United Methodist Church, which already had delayed from last year a critical vote on the…
Do you wonder if you’re the only one who believes the way you do?
“Am I the only one?” Recently, it seems I can’t have a conversation about faith or politics without uncovering another story of someone who is wrestling with this question. Many have become increasingly isolated from their faith communities and families….
Three signposts for American Christians in a changing world
A lot can change in 40 years. As a decidedly liberal and middle-aged me looks back at the Reagan Republican twenty-something I once was, I’m forced to ponder the road that led from there to here. I worry that similar…
Christian symbols and sedition at the Capitol: The church has work to do
It may be low-grade trauma. I have found it difficult to focus since the events of Jan. 6, when the United States Capitol was overthrown, with lawmakers huddled inside. My lack of focus has left me doom scrolling, watching countless…
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…
Minister’s healing from sexual abuse intersects #MeToo era in new memoir
Lucille F. Sider is an ordained minister called to bring healing to others while carrying dark, painful secrets inside her for decades.
Emerging Gen Z may deliver huge blow to religion in U.S.
It looks like Gen Z, the age group with older members just now graduating from high school, wants as little or less from religious organizations than their Millennial predecessors. That may come as little surprise to churches, nonprofits and businesses…
That tricky terrain between angry atheists and fundamentalist Christians
Between these two disheartening poles, it’s not the muddled mush of some middle ground I’m seeking — which makes staking a claim to “free and faithful” even more difficult.
In the U.S., are Christians really different from secular culture?
In America, it seems that the prophetic tradition is in a crisis. How does it differ from the tradition of order? Indeed, it seems that the only tradition in America is that of order, and if there is a prophetic tradition, it seems that it is not easily and clearly distinguishable from the tradition of order.
In the present moment: afraid to speak, afraid to be silent
Since that disturbing Oval Office pronouncement there have been thousands of opinions written across the political spectrum, endless hours dedicated to punditocracy in the marketplace, countless words of pulpiteering offered by the Church. And I’ve been afraid to speak.
More white men choosing guns over God and church, survey finds
Guns and their inherent power restore in some people a sense of control stripped away by the economic consequences of globalism, say the authors of a new study.