On Aug. 27, Alexander Lang preached his last sermon at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights, Ill. A few days later, he wrote a column titled “Departure: Why I Left the Church.” Since then, I have seen Lang’s column shared…
The gospel according to mammals
If I were not a pastor, my life would look very, very different. In fact, after I graduated with an undergraduate degree in anthropology, I had two options to consider: one of my professors encouraged me to apply for an…
CBF names two search teams for key staff openings
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has named two eight-members teams to search for key staff members. One team will identify needed leadership gifts and structures for the future of CBF Global Missions and serve as a search committee for a coordinator…
YHWH vs. the Singularity
In a recent issue of The Atlantic, novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar argues that we have now arrived in the age of the Singularity, the hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in never-before-foreseeable…
Reflections on The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
When I was in college in the mid-2000s, I devoured books by pastors and writers who were labeled “Emergent.” Coming out of my Southern Baptist upbringing, I was drawn to expressions of Christianity that seemed to engage culture not as…
A home for outcasts or a keeper of the ‘sacred timeline’?
Recently my family and I have been watching Loki on Disney+. For those of you unfamiliar with the world of the Marvel universe, Loki is the god of mischief and an archvillain of the Avengers. At the beginning of the…
In their own words: Young faith leaders on why young adults should get vaccinated
Current research shows that young adults in America represent one of the least-vaccinated demographic groups. To address this concern, BNG reached out to a diverse group of young clergy and faith leaders to hear their own stories of choosing to…
Why I’ll remember 2021 as ‘The Year with Two Easters’
I may refer to 2020 as “The Year Without an Easter.” That is certainly how it felt to me, at least. I had been serving as pastor of Ardmore Baptist Church for less than seven months before the global pandemic…
As major employers, churches help the economy with PPP loans
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented American congregations with all manner of unprecedented decisions and dilemmas, including whether to accept government money to meet payrolls. But faced with decreased revenues, many churches have done just that — even while acknowledging the…