This is the fourth of a five-part fictional story set in the early 1990s about Rev. Paul Graham and his congregation, Grace United Church of Christ. In the previous episode, a lifelong member of Paul’s congregation contracted HIV/AIDS. In spite…
‘It ought to be like church’: Working out some lessons for congregational life
I once heard a pastor say, as he was getting into the sermon, “Now, hang with me, I’m working it out.” And, sure enough, there’s many a biblical text over which we have to labor and work out our understandings…
The church faces a three-dimensional decision
Three cultural-biblical issues intertwine today to hold the Christian church in knots of conflict. Part of that conflict concerns whether the three cords are cut from the same cloth or not. These strands are race, gender and sexuality. From a…
The church can win against poverty
As my family and I began our short trip to Nashville, Tenn., from Atlanta for the Christmas break, my wife’s work phone began to ring nonstop. My wife works for a nonprofit organization that ministers to and aims to restore…
Silence is not an option for the church on January 6
The church should not remain silent when January 6 rolls around. It was an insurrection. It was incited. It was planned. It was intended. It was a response to a dastardly lie. Trump did lose. Biden did win. People did…
Can Christianity be deinstitutionalized?
My all-time favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. This classic prison film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker falsely convicted of the double murder of his wife and her lover. A profound…
America may not be as much ‘post-Christian’ as post-white Christian
Many American societies are beginning to be understood as “post-Christian.” Churches are hemorrhaging masses of disillusioned congregants as Christian cultural norms are losing their grip on public discourse. Even so, there has been a new Christian movement unsuspectingly burgeoning on…
Why potluck and Wednesday night dinners are important
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…