Fighting authoritarianism doesn’t require being violently forced to the ground and handcuffed by police outside an immigration detention center, said Michael Woolf, a Chicago-area Baptist pastor, author and activist who experienced that very thing. “There’s something for everybody to do,…
Alliance urged to touch the wounds and reclaim freedom
Because “covered wounds don’t heal,” American Christians must continue to expose the truth of their harmful past, Michael Woolf told the Alliance of Baptists annual gathering. That message was echoed in a second address by Kelly Brown Douglas, visiting professor…
A dehumanizing immigration policy requires a robust theology of protest
One could argue that the first time Christians protested was the early church’s refusal to worship Roman gods and its subsequent persecution. In a story that has captured the imagination of generations of Christians, St. Lawrence, a third-century deacon, was…
Authors seek to counter Islamophobia
Christians opposed to Christian nationalism and President Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrants can push back in part by learning about Muslims and Islam, according to the Baptist authors of a new book on Islamophobia. “The Christian nationalism we are seeing,…
Confronting Islamophobia is a needed resource
When Anna Piela and Michael Woolf’s Confronting Islamophobia in the Church crossed my desk, I placed it on the stack of books I need to read. Judson Press released the book as a new resource for equipping Christian communities to…
Clergy are essential to resistance against ICE, Chicago pastor says
The visibility and voice of clergy are indispensable to the protest movement forming against President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration tactics, said Michael Woolf, a Chicago-area pastor recently arrested outside a federal detention center. “Religious leaders are really important in this…
What Kristi Noem and DHS won’t admit about clergy-led protests
Last Thursday night, I had dinner at the home of Baptist pastor Michael Woolf, his wife, Anna Piela, and their young daughter. We ate lasagna that Woolf had cooked. The next morning, a Reuters photo of Woolf’s arrest at a…
A conversation with Michael Woolf about ICE and Chicago
On Halloween, ICE agents carried out a number of raids in and around Chicagoland — including in Evanston, home of Lake Street Church, an Alliance of Baptist congregation. In response, Lake Street’s senior pastor, Michael Woolf, joined protests at the…
Churches called to be bold and flexible in immigration ministries
Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration is pushing faith-based groups to be more bold, flexible and creative in their ministries to immigrants, a panel of experts said during a webinar hosted by the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. The session…
It’s time for male clergy to speak up for reproductive rights
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s hearing of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, people around the country are waking up to the fact that Roe v. Wade is in peril. Among those sounding the alarm have been a group of…
Religious communities can offer more to the coronavirus vaccination effort
As religious leaders of different traditions pose while receiving their initial injections of the coronavirus vaccine and even livestream their jab for congregants to see, I can’t help but think that we could do even more. Of course, talking positively…
Some thoughts on praying for the president by seeking flourishing for all
To say I was anxious during our time of corporate prayer last Sunday is an understatement. How would my congregants handle the news of Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and how would they pray for him and the First Lady? It…