By Bill Leonard “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves…
4 ways tension will make your church a better congregation
By Amy Butler In case anyone forgot to tell you, life in church is filled with tension. I believe this with all my heart. In fact, I’ve always said that if you leave a worship service in which I’ve led…
A Baby Boomer, a Millennial, and the Kingdom of God
By Aileen Lawrimore I was making plans to meet a friend for coffee and conversation. She’s 23 years old and just finishing her first year of divinity school. After we settled on a time, she sent me one more text….
Sabbath: The spiritual practice of exhaling
By Jayne Hugo Davis I never thought of myself as living life holding my breath. Certainly, not like a child demanding the resolution of some grievance, willing to voluntarily turn blue. Not even with wonder and delight in anticipation of…
A new church is coming (part 2)
By Molly T. Marshall In my last column I described the coming church as browner and poorer, more sensuous and feminine, less clerical and more collegial/inclusive, more attentive to the need for structural change than quick palliation, and more multilingual…
All things bright and beautiful
By Doyle Sager Let’s face it. For most of us, beauty has never been at the top of our “most important doctrines” list. Perhaps we should reconsider. But let’s remember that our Maker probably sees spatial beauty and facial beauty…
A return to the cloister
By Kyle Henderson Last week my local theater was showing The Sound of Music on the big screen. The theater was filled with the lush sound track and the spectacular cinematography. Though I have seen the movie many times, I…
The sunny side of our gray forecast
By John Chandler Since 1840, global human life expectancy at birth has risen about three months with each passing year. A century ago, Americans were expected to live until age 47; now, newborns are pegged for 79 years. If life…
Christ’s body camera
By Starlette McNeill The season of Lent is over, but I am still thinking about Christ’s body. In last month’s column, I considered “Christ’s Body image” and thanks to a 24-hour news cycle and minute-by-minute social media updates, we are…