Where the Appalachian region of North Carolina crashes against the central Piedmont’s rolling hills, I came of age. Where the exploitation of workers centered less on what took place in coal mines and instead played out inside the walls and…
Judging the stripper and the carouser in ourselves at the Communion table
“The Bible says not to judge,” my Sunday school classmate says to me. I reply, “So, you’re making a judgment that my position on judgment is wrong?” I smile. “You see the irony here, right?” The person stares. Perplexed. I…
As a pastor serves bread to the elderly in Ukraine, he prays to retain his humanity
As Ukrainian theologian and pastor Fyodor Raychynets serves bread to the elderly imprisoned in bomb shelters, his prayer is to retain his humanity. “I have to remind myself on a daily basis that we are humans and we are —…
Sleepless nights, parenting, biscuits and holy Communion
I’m fully awake a few ticks after 6 a.m., but I’ve been semi-conscious for a few hours. To say my oldest daughter hasn’t slept well is putting it nicely. When she hasn’t been exploring the different positions to rest her…
Of pronouns and postures among Baptists and Catholics
On Feb. 15, reports of an Arizona Roman Catholic priest’s assumed liturgical blunder — using “we” rather than “I” in baptisms over a decade — flooded news feeds across a wide spectrum. I was not surprised that Religion News Service…
Letter to the Editor: Responses to the livestream worship debate
Letter to the Editor: February 17, 2022 Dear Editor: I am grateful to the many people who responded to my opinion piece, “A Cautious Case Against Livestreaming Worship.” The readership for this less than 800-word piece far exceeds any of…
United Methodists will welcome President Biden for Communion
Roman Catholic bishops may bar President Joe Biden from receiving Holy Communion because of his political beliefs, but United Methodists are ready to welcome him to the Lord‘s Supper without question. Anyone who has attended Communion in a United Methodist…
America’s two largest Christian bodies continue to become more conservative
The continual shift of the Southern Baptist Convention to the right was echoed by the latest meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Last Friday, the USCCB voted to create a teaching document that could rebuke and exclude…
Remembering Christ’s death with chicken soup and Goldfish
It’s probably wrong to think this, but it feels good to hear that groups other than Baptists are fighting about stuff. Catholics are all in a snit about allowing the president to share Communion since he is a supporter of…
The power of political capital to shape communities and churches
This is the sixth in a series created by a partnership between Baptist News Global and the Campbell University Center for Church and Community. Each month’s columns explore one of the seven types of capital described in the Community Capitals Framework developed by…
It’s not enough to offer scraps from the Table of the Lord
It was about this time nine years ago that one of GracePointe’s members described our congregation to a member of the press as being “gay-friendly.” Amazingly, in response to those extremely weak credentials, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church decided to…
What we missed most about in-person church, what’s coming back and what’s likely to change
Taking Communion, socializing and experiencing live sermons were the top features of in-person worship missed by churchgoers during the coronavirus outbreak, new research shows. The aspects missed the least — partly because they were more easily provided online — included…