Now that the USA government shutdown is over–at least for a while–let’s reflect on the lessons churches can learn from the shutdown about conflict. Many of these are lessons of what not to do. These lessons are also politically neutral….
Wichita school’s five pillars incident shows confusion and prejudice
Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet Elementary School in Wichita, KS is the center of an uproar last week after a photo taken on the first day of school showing a large “5 Pillars of Islam” display was shared online. The Wichita…
Who decides if you are a Christian?
Recently I was a guest on HuffPost Live with Rev. Paul Raushenbush, HuffPost Senior Religion Editor and two other authors. (You can watch the segment here. I come in around 19:00) We discussed the coming out of NBA player Jason Collins and the conversation turned to…
The Church Draft
As millions of football fans will undoubtedly will be glued to their televisions and social media, they will hunger for the latest information about NFL draft picks. The NFL draft is part pageantry and part celebration for football teams and their…
My Boston take-aways
These posts are truly difficult to write; partly because if you want to be real then you have to confess some things and partly because events such as occurred last week are not easy to process. I am not sure…
Why Pope Francis is good for Christianity
As Pope Francis starts his papacy, it is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church. Upon leaving Rome, Pope Francis paid for his own room, rejected lavish apparel, and referred to himself more as…
Holy week demanded holy dialogue
Did Holy Week this year seem to shout out for a new dimension of holy dialogue? It did to me. It was an unusual and disruptive week in several ways. It caused me to think about the need for a…
A new theme song for CBF?
On a recent Sunday, our church choir sang “Find Us Faithful” as the anthem in the traditional worship service. I have always liked this song that was written by Jon Mohr and popularized by Steve Green. In fact, we used…
Would you wear a hijab for a day?
February 1st was World Hijab Day. For those of you who might not know, hijab is the head covering worn by some Muslim women. The idea was to invite women who do not hijab, both Muslim and women of other…