This week, Robin Williams was trending on Twitter. He died by suicide in August 2014, five months after my late husband died the same way. Side note: When someone takes their own life, the correct verbiage is to say they…
What I found hidden in my mother’s Bible after her death
On Easter this year, Christianity Today reposted an article written by J.I. Packer from the magazine’s April 10, 1981, issue. Packer was a complementarian and Calvinist, so there’s quite a bit on which we disagree, and this article is no…
Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness
I deliver Meals on Wheels on Fridays. My routes vary, but the people I serve tend to be older, low-income, often disabled, living alone. That fits the profile of a typical Meals on Wheels client: The program seeks to assist…
BNG panelists offer diagnosis and prescriptions for mental health during pandemic
Inflamed racial tensions, a divisive election season and alarming climate events — all during a pandemic — have stretched American psychological well-being to the limit. But there also are some potential spiritual positives from the coronavirus era, according to five…
Too many pastors are falling on their own swords
“Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been imagining killing myself,” the pastor said. I was on a Zoom call recently with 10 pastors across three denominations, when one of the participants shared a struggle with…
New book explores pain of preaching after a suicide in the congregation
In January 2009, I sat down at my desk to think about the upcoming season of Lent. I was the pastor at Wilton Baptist Church in Wilton, Conn. I had been there for just over two years but was the…
It’s past time for the Church to embrace the Rainbow Christ
When it comes to honoring the sacredness of our LGBTQ siblings’ sexualities, we have often been guilty of painting Christ using monochrome colors of exclusivity, narrowness and fear rather than the vibrant colors of inclusivity, expansion and love.
Finding an alternative to the anxious pursuit of happiness parading as American Christianity
Of the 25 to 30 students, adults, married couples and whole families I see each week in my practice as a psychotherapist, almost nothing is more difficult to overcome than our collective commitment to the anxious pursuit of happiness at all costs.
The ranks of ex-pastors grow as some join ‘nones’ and ‘dones’
Between the notoriously long hours, the unrealistic expectations and the severe stress on health and family, church ministry often becomes too much for many — in fact most — ministers to handle. For some it results in being fired, quitting or…