Do you think arriving at 9 p.m. for fireworks that begin at 9:25 would be early enough? If you do, then the New York Police Department would like to have a word with you. We could have guaranteed ourselves seats…
Tim Keller was a really nice guy, but that wasn’t enough for everyone
The one thing everyone who interacted with him seems to agree on is this: Tim Keller was a heckuva nice guy. So nice, some say, it’s hard to believe he was a conservative evangelical. So nice, others say, he caved…
We have been trained to see certain people as avatars of disorder who need to be eliminated
The killing of Jordan Neely is an apocalyptic event; it reveals something about our cultural moment that is at once illuminating and deeply unsettling. On May 1, Neely was killed on the New York City subway by a fellow passenger….
New York City mayor dismisses need for separation of church and state
New York City Mayor Eric Adams denied the need for separation of church and state in a speech at an interfaith breakfast Feb. 28. “Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state,” he said. “State is the body….
9/11 was a day of dark despair but also multicultural unity
Serving amid the chaos and anguish of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was more about ministers and congregations living into callings than it was about summoning great courage, said David Waugh, who was pastor of Metro Baptist Church in…
In New York City, serving the homeless offered a clue for how to serve trauma victims during the pandemic
Serving homeless people, as well as victims of domestic violence and other forms of trauma, is challenging anywhere. But the difficulty multiplies in New York City, Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey has learned. “In New York, everything is happening on such a…
How to say goodbye during a pandemic (in English or Spanish)
I had been a New Yorker for two days. At 5:15 on Monday afternoon, I told my wife, Carol, “I’m going to buy bagels.” This was the first time in my life I said, “I’m going to buy bagels.” I…
It’s hard to get a laugh these days, even if you’re a funny preacher
Susan Sparks is a preacher and a stand-up comedian, which means she doesn’t have a lot of places to be these days. Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City, where she is senior pastor, isn’t meeting in person. And…
Pastors must preach about COVID-19, Younger says
Preachers must not avoid preaching about the pain of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a prominent Baptist pastor who serves in New York City, one of the hardest-hit areas of the nation.