These are stories I have written about for a quarter of a century. The only reason it hasn’t been longer is because I’m relatively young. I’m only one-fifth the age of the country.
10 years after the deadly church shooting, a new history of ‘Mother Emanuel’
June 17 marks 10 years since a deadly mass shooting at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shocked the nation. A white supremacist, intent on starting a race war, opened fire during Wednesday night Bible study, killing nine Black worshippers…
COVID vaccinations, firearms and martyrs: Another American epidemic
Semen est sanguis Christianorum. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Those words, attributed to the third century theologian Tertullian, appear in an Apologeticum written to defend against the many charges — cannibalism, incest, atheism, sedition,…
Steady space in an unsteady world: Church and the power of place
In 1993, AT&T launched an ad campaign now famous for its accuracy about future technologies. The ad showcased video calls, tablet computers, eBooks, personal GPS navigation and the digital classroom. The central theme was the erasure of space. When checking…
A year after the Charleston church shooting, what has changed?
In the wake of the shooting at Emanuel, congregations in the AME and other black churches have ratcheted up security — installing cameras and, in some cases, posting armed ushers. Officers sometimes sit in on Bible study.
Do only black football players sexually assault coeds at Baylor?
This is a big month in race relations among Baptists. This week at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jerry Young, president of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc. was a speaker, and a participant with SBC president…
New pastor of Mother Emanuel seeks healing amid the clamor
With the shooting’s anniversary this summer, visitors to the church will swell. The Rev. Dr. Betty Deas Clark knows this. She must prepare a hurting people, and herself, to relive a nightmare.