July 6, 2021 Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: Bill Leonard recently wrote about Samuel S. Hill Jr., who in 1960 wrote: “The heart of the matter is that the ministry of the churches is ever more irrelevant to persons…
What would Dolly do?
I went to Dollywood for the first time this summer, a pilgrimage of sorts. After all, Dolly Parton is a larger-than-life icon, and Dollywood is so much more than just an amusement park. Dolly grew up in poverty in Sevierville,…
An open letter to the SBC: God’s amazing grace always builds a bigger, better tent
The Southern Baptist Convention averted a catastrophic split at its most recent annual meeting as messengers narrowly voted to elect Ed Litton, an Alabama pastor, as SBC president. While Litton has been sympathetic to the call for racial tolerance and…
For universities, when it comes to LGBTQ issues, focus on student well-being
Let’s say you are on the trustee board of a Christian-affiliated university and you are trying to figure out what your school should do about its policies related to LGBTQ students. You have two conservative voices in your ears, one…
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…
That time I went to the school board meeting to speak against banning books
This week, I found someone who has it rougher than pastors in handling dissent generated from right-wing conspiracy theories and fear of the LGBTQ community: Public school administrators. I had no idea how bad this is, and yet I should…
My journey toward LGBTQ inclusion: God still speaks
As a cisgendered heterosexual male, my own sexuality was not a problem in the Southern Baptist faith of my youth and young adulthood. Having come of age with the Moral Majority, though, I cannot remember a time when the question…
After spiritual trauma, finding welcome in church once more
Growing up, the church always was a safe place for me. I grew up in the same small-town church my entire life, and a lot of our life revolved around the church. Sundays were filled with Sunday school and the…
The colors of America
I am one of those white Baby Boomer guys who has screwed up everything — or at least the finger has pointed often our way. I don’t totally deny it. I grew up in Oklahoma, Tulsa. When I went off…