A few weeks ago, I woke up to a text message saying it had snowed overnight, despite there having been no measurable snowfall in North Carolina since 2022 nor any forecasts of snow for that morning. Intrigued, I looked out…
A divinity student’s post-election playlist: Hymn-singing through times of tension
Amid all the feelings this past political week has drawn out, several of my friends and colleagues lack words. Or have too many words to make sense of. Or fear their words have been ignored or will be silenced as…
Why we should care about the food we waste
The food we waste may fall out of our memory pretty quickly, but it doesn’t disappear. The French fries you couldn’t finish at lunch, the leftover casserole from the church potluck, the moldy loaf of bread you forgot about, the…
What your faith community needs to know for Suicide Awareness Month
This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you are in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You know someone, even if you don’t know it. You work with someone. Go to school with someone….
Divinity school diaries: Reflections from year 1
This past week, I watched as my social media pages were flooded with “first day of school” photos. My friends’ school-aged children stood by their front doors, or perhaps a nice tree in their yard, smiling and adorned with new…
What does freedom mean to you? Black Baptist women and the fight to vote
What does freedom mean to you? On July 26, former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told Christians at The Believers’ Summit, an event hosted by Christian nationalist advocacy group Turning Point USA: “Get out and vote. Just this…
What are they wearing in District One? The Met Gala, Gaza and another real-life connection to the Hunger Games
On May 6, celebrities waltzed into the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the year’s biggest night of fashion, extravagance and outrageous displays of wealth: The Met Gala. One ticket to the Met Gala costs around $75,000, which the BBC points…
Grace Valentine, ice cream and sources of empowerment for women in complementarian circles
After a Good Friday worship service, Anne-Tillery, a divinity school friend and I, were discussing gender roles in the church over ice cream at the local Kilwins. The night before, we had found ourselves among a sizable group of sorority…
Wrestling with the reality of sexual abuse in the Easter story in Surviving God
In their new book, Surviving God: A New Vision of God Through the Eyes of Sexual Abuse Survivors, Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Susan Shaw offer a feminist and intersectional understanding of God that challenges traditional ways of Christian thinking. Kim…