On Nov. 18, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to declare a national emergency and deploy the military to enforce mass deportations as soon as he’s back in office. For many, this decision feels unprecedented, a stark departure from the…
Two young leaders exemplify the alarm over Trump
Donald Trump’s return to the White House is “the absolute worst case scenario,” according to religion scholar Matthew Taylor. “We’re in an epochal shift in American history of the worst sort, and while it does not spell the absolute end…
3 things I learned from discussing politics in the church
I have heard many Christians say, “I don’t want to hear politics in the church!” Churchgoers who make such a statement might not want to hear partisan politics in the church. Partisan politics is political activity that advocates for or…
The political pulpit
Last Sunday, on my way to a neighboring church, I was struck by the sea of political signs lining the road — billboards and bumper stickers promoting candidates for every conceivable office. It’s that time of year again — campaign…
In post-Christian Germany, Taylor Swift music brings people to church
Grossing more than a billion dollars in ticket sales and crossing five continents, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is a juggernaut of a production. Although the university town of Heidelberg, Germany, didn’t make the list of tour stops, fans could still…
Why children are behaving differently at church after the pandemic
It is now June 2024, and we are four years away from the beginning of the COVID-19 experience in the United States. But the ripple effects of the pandemic are still being felt in church children’s ministries. As an educator…
Jesus will not rescue America without our help, Pavlovitz says
Prayerfully waiting for God or the “arc of the moral universe” to heal America’s political, racial and religious divisions will do nothing to alter the nation’s downward spiritual and moral trajectory, activist and author John Pavlovitz said. In fact, no…
My hybrid church
Let me tell you about my church. My church meets every Friday from noon until around 6:30 p.m. My church has no pews but plenty of folding tables and chairs as well as boxes and bins filled with groceries. My…
We’re on a mission from God? Why America needs the church, not Christian nationalism
In the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, Elwood and Jake set out to save the Catholic orphanage where they were raised. As the brothers try to get their band back together to pay the orphanage’s $5,000 in back taxes, Elwood and…