Young Americans of color are slightly more religious and enjoy better mental health than their white Generation Z counterparts, according to a new study by Springtide Research Institute. These findings were quantified in spite of the intense racial prejudice and…
Embrace new ways of relating to mental health and spiritual challenges of Gen Z or risk losing them, researcher urges
Religious leaders must learn to embrace new ways of relating to the mental health and spiritual challenges of young people or risk contributing to their continued alienation from faith institutions, the coordinator of a new national study says. Josh Packard…
A doorway to the sacred: Encountering God in the theater
In one of my oldest memories, my little hand is held firmly in my mother’s as we climb a long, wide staircase. We are dressed in our finest shoes and dresses, matching the elegance of the great chandeliers, plush carpeting…
Can God be found outside Christianity?
A few weeks ago, I attended my very first “energy workshop.” It’s taken years of deconstruction and healing from religious trauma for me to open up and allow myself to explore the energy work of more Buddhist traditions. My former…
She’s Gen-Z, became leery of the church but practices faith with fitness
Tia Howell didn’t invent the idea that mind, body and spirit are intimately connected, but the 24-year-old personal fitness coach in Mount Holly, N.C., lives it as she would a calling. She’s also among one of the fastest-growing groups in…
While some try to politicize wearing face masks, for me it’s a spiritual practice
The face mask debate among Christ followers amid a devastating global pandemic demands that we think deeply about what outward signs signify about inward spiritual grace. I have come to view wearing a protective mask as a spiritual practice.
What if Americans go looking for spiritual renewal and our churches are too troubled to help?
I find myself in awe of the clergy and laity offering frontline care of souls in response to COVID-19, lovingly creating ministry alternatives, even from a distance. While these acts of selflessness are themselves a dramatic sign of spiritual renewal, sobering trends confront America’s churches.
When this pandemic subsides, may compassion continue
In the wake of COVID-19, let us never discount the cumulative impact of compassion. Small acts of concern and sensitivity can bring about transformational healing in people’s lives and promote societal wholeness.
Amid this pandemic, can we say with Julian of Norwich, ‘All shall be well’?
More than six centuries later, Julian of Norwich still speaks to modern Christians caught, like her, in the clutches of another “Great Pestilence.”