Delegates to United Methodists’ first worldwide legislative assembly in five years will consider three major issues known as “the three Rs” — regionalization, Revised Social Principles and removal of “harmful language” against homosexuality. This General Conference — technically considered the…
Two things can be true at the same time
In case you missed the controversy, Easter Sunday and Transgender Day of Visibility fell on the same day this year. Oh, the horrors! Conservative evangelicals — many of whom who believe transgender identity is not a real thing — saw…
This is how unhinged Focus on the Family has become
Thirty years ago, when my wife and I were parents of newborn twins, James Dobson was considered the go-to expert for Christian parenting. What we didn’t know then is just how wrong some of his advice was. Dobson was required…
One year after the Club Q mass shooting, none of us are the same
It’s been more than a year since a man armed with an AR-15-style rifle walked into a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and opened fire. It was Nov. 19, 2022, the day before Transgender Day of Remembrance. Club Q was…
Searching for Grace: Haunting question
This is the fourth of a five-part fictional story set in the early 1990s about Rev. Paul Graham and his congregation, Grace United Church of Christ. In the previous episode, a lifelong member of Paul’s congregation contracted HIV/AIDS. In spite…
The church faces a three-dimensional decision
Three cultural-biblical issues intertwine today to hold the Christian church in knots of conflict. Part of that conflict concerns whether the three cords are cut from the same cloth or not. These strands are race, gender and sexuality. From a…
What I learned hearing 10 Baptist pastors talk about LGBTQ inclusion
Last Friday, I attended the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s 30th anniversary gathering at First Baptist Church of Greensboro, N.C. The theme of “thriving together” took on particular interest to me as a young seminarian because of one of…
Searching for Grace: Worst-kept secret
This is the third of a five-part fictional story set in the early 1990s about Paul Graham and his congregation, Grace United Church of Christ. Previously, Paul made the difficult but necessary decision to leave the Southern Baptist Convention and…
Nex Benedict death ruled suicide, setting off a new round of suspicions and denials
Nex Benedict died by suicide a day after a fight with bullies at their high school, according to a medical examiner’s report released March 13. The 16-year-old nonbinary student’s death has drawn international headlines for a month now, cited by…