By Aileen Lawrimore “Well,” the teen said after thinking only for a moment, “I’d like to talk about evangelism.” I was with a group of young people — ages 19-35 — and I had asked what issues of faith they’d…
What I said to my conservative church about same-sex marriage
Preacher, if you are at all like me, as you were preparing to write your sermon this past Sunday, your mind kept going back to the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage. Last Sunday it was still so fresh that…
Who will go to Destination Unknown?
“Destination Unknown.” That was the stated course of the troop ship on which Julia Graham and her first husband, Henry, embarked in May 1945, with their 7-month-old son, as Baptist missionaries to the Middle East. Julia and Henry and the…
‘Are you not entertained?’ Discipleship and Pew Research findings
Have you ever claimed to be something you’re not? I once posed as a town sheriff, brandishing a gun and stopping everyone who disobeyed the law. Of course, at the age of 4, and with a plastic orange-tipped six-shooter, my…
In organized Christianity, some people are gone and others are done
Do we need another category to describe people who are either no longer related to organized Christianity or never were? Probably.
Time for panic or hope?
The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting wrapped up last week. As usual there have been several statements and statistics which are causing at least minor stirs. Their announcement of a court petition to uphold the traditional definition of marriage may…
Recover the balance between service and evangelism, urge theologians
By Vicki Brown Before the government offered social services, the church — Christians who ministered to the whole person, meeting physical needs and sharing the good news of God’s grace and mercy — did so. Tension sometimes still arises between…
Evangelism: Who stole the “E” word?
This is the second article of a nine-part series on empowering a faith community to impact the world. The “E” word has been stolen! This stolen term and its meaning generated aspirations for some churches and guilt for others in…
10 things Millennials DON’T say about church
By Aileen Lawrimore I have a lot of Millennials in my life: my own children and their friends, nieces and nephews, youth from churches where I’ve served, plus college students I’ve met through ministry. I Snapchat and text, Facebook and…