I still remember the smell, the food and the sounds of my childhood and formative years growing up at First Baptist Church in Orlando. The interactions at our Wednesday night dinners were transformative to me as a kid. Although it’s…
What we’re learning since our homeless church moved in with a homeless shelter
One year ago, our new church was just starting to form and trying to flesh out our identity. We spent the first seven months “doing church” in a large classroom on the local university campus, where we focused on cultivating…
America’s loneliness epidemic is the church’s calling
In a recently released advisory, the U.S. Surgeon General raised an alarm about the “devastating impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in America,” citing harm to individual and societal health and calling on the nation to “prioritize building…
The sacrament of the Southern summer shore
Growing up in a doubly landlocked state, we were lake people. When my sixth grade Girl Scout troop went to Savannah and Tybee Island, many of the girls never had seen the ocean before. Instead of beach trips, people would…
Struggling to believe
I’m struggling to believe. Not in God. Not in Jesus. But in the church. I’m wondering if we’ve gotten it all wrong, the songs and sermons, altar calls and Bible studies, missionaries and seminaries. You see, I’m finding little evidence…
Dear Tennessee legislators: You are driving people away from faith
Dear Tennessee representatives who voted to expel two of the Tennessee Three: I know most of you profess Christianity. I hope you and yours had a joyous Easter. I wish our state could have. Alas, the venomous viper of power…
Four ways to be in helpful relationship with those living with infertility
I’m not sure who started the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” but I’d like a word with them. Most of us who have been through the experience of middle school know…
Is the dramatic global rise in unhappiness correlated with the continued drop in church attendance?
Unhappiness has been on the rise around the globe across the past 10 years, Gallup reports. This rise in unhappiness runs deeper than the worldwide dread felt during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been brewing for quite some…
This Galentine’s Day, make new friends but keep the old ones
In February 2010, the writers of Parks and Recreation introduced a new holiday to American pop culture: Galentine’s Day. As this memorable episode opens, the sitcom’s exuberant main character, Leslie Knope, is distributing gift bags to women gathered around a…