It’s that season again. I don’t mean crisp mornings and changing leaves, but the season of presidential politics. But thinking of the fall, in sequence with politics, made me think theology. (It’s a hazard of the job.) This stream-of-consciousness led…
Becoming inclusive
LKS * Born in Grant City, Mo., on 8/15/1938 * Graduated from Southwest Baptist College (Bolivar, Mo.) in 1957 (A.A.) * Graduated from William Jewell College (Liberty, Mo.) in 1959 (A.B.) * Graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville,…
Unprofessional Christianity
Quitting your job is scary and hard and weird and exciting and nauseating, but when you’re a pastor, it’s a lot like leaving a cult. For most people, the phrase “You know, it was just time” is a sufficient…
Stop talking about gentrification
My beloved neighborhood in west Charlotte is on the brink of big changes. Neighbors are trying to figure out what those changes will be and how to have a voice in them, and we keep coming back to one term…
The only vision that works for congregations is God’s vision
“The Triune God is the only true source of vision that is clearly spiritual and has any chance of pulling a congregation forward in the direction of its full Kingdom potential. Humankind has great ideas. Humankind has experiences of inspiration….
Southern communion
By Laura-Lee Kidwell Jones As a hospice chaplain, I am regularly asked, “Why do you visit with Alzheimer’s patients?” My standard answer includes, “Because perhaps they will know that someone is there and they will, possibly, for even a moment…
Sometimes it’s just a matter of showing up
By Jayne Davis It was really such a simple plan. The group would meet at my house at 4:30 for coffee and dessert and then head off together to the nursing home at 6 to sing Christmas carols for residents…
A border already crossed
Recent studies suggest that one out of four adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder. That equates to 50 million people in the United States, with 12 million falling in the “serious or chronic” category. This is equal to the…
Locating your door
By Molly T. Marshall I have invested time this summer reading David Brooks’ fine book, The Road to Character. He did not write it quickly — nearly seven years in the making — and in it he contrasts two forms…