July 1, 2015 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, We are deeply disturbed by the recent rash of yet to be explained fires at African American churches in the Southeastern part of our country. In the past two weeks, there…
Racism and religious persecution: Who’s burning black churches?
Guest commentary by Denise Anderson On June 17, 2015, nine people were shot and killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, by a white supremacist. Since then six predominantly black churches across the South have gone up in…
The plight of the Palestinians
As you know from my recent article , this month I made a week’s visit to the country of Israel. My daughter Karen, who is a professor at the University of Arizona, was going to an academic conference in Tel…
How to be a family of faith
Twenty years ago our congregation adopted five core values. The one which speaks to our internal relationships says, “In relationships…Family.” Our church covenant expands this core value: As a group of gathered believers, we understand ourselves to be a part…
Inerrancy, racism and theological education: Responding to Al Mohler
Note: Portions of this reflection are based on a paper I wrote about inerrancy, slavery, and Reformed heritage in the United States for an independent study. I read Al Mohler’s article “The Heresy of Racial Superiority – Confronting the Past,…
The Church and homosexuality: Finding a way forward
The months leading up to General Conference are sure to see a raft of proposals on homosexuality in the United Methodist Church. Being a centrist denomination by inclination many of these will seek to scratch out ground for compromise. This…
The Supreme Court just gave American evangelicals a gift
Evangelicals are tenacious, persistent, and driven when they want to fight for a cause. The problem is that American evangelicals have been swept up in fighting for the wrong cause for a long time. When the Supreme Court ruled to…
Obergefell decision does not remove the separation of church and state
By K. Hollyn Hollman, BJC General Counsel Click here for a 2-page handout about the decision (PDF link). Early in the U.S. Supreme Court decision finding a constitutional right to marriage that includes same-sex partners, Justice Kennedy describes the “transcendent…
Monday’s songs: The words we know
I had no idea what to say. Somewhere between realizing I had to lead Sunday school and looking over what I had planned to teach, I was gripped by the fact that I had no words. What exactly do you…