In my years of serving as a pastor to students and their families, I’ve heard the following question phrased in a few different ways: Should I force my child to go to church if they don’t want to? In the…
The kids are not all right
A 20-year old tried to assassinate a presidential candidate this weekend. Now I know that, technically, we consider 20-year-olds adults. But I teach 20-year-olds. I know they’re still somewhere between childhood and adulthood, their brains not yet fully formed. But…
BJC essay contest expands to allow TikTok submissions
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty will expand its annual scholarship contest this year to include TikTok-style video submissions in addition to traditional written essays that explore the link between Christian nationalism and book bans. “It’s critical for us to…
Skinny-dipping at a church picnic
The first time I went skinny-dipping was at a church picnic. If I’m lying, I’m dying. As of this writing, brothers Ron and Steve Wilson are still alive — by some miracle — and can verify the bare facts of…
At holidays, LGBTQ youth homelessness spikes
The holidays may be winding down, but for some LGBTQ youth, year-end celebrations mark the beginning of a very different season: experiencing homelessness. According to Marian Edmonds-Allen, executive director of Parity NYC, a faith-based organization focused on healing divisions between…
50 years later, I’m still embarrassed to admit what a stranger at church taught me about being welcome
I’ve been interested in Mary Magdalene lately for some unknown reason. Hers is a fascinating story, and to be honest, everything we know about her would barely fill a small paragraph. Here it is: Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman…
American young people report huge gaps between what matters to them and what appears to matter to the church
Young people in America do not believe churches care about the issues that are important to them — by double-digit disparities — according to a new national survey released today. Springtide Research specializes in data and resources related to the…
Decent men of faith and sexual abuse
Before I get into this piece any further, let me admit that decency is a pretty low bar for people of faith. I find that in most churches (I cannot speak for synagogues or temples or mosques), the bar is generally set…
‘What we must do, as young people, is to ensure we don’t carry forward the endemic fallacies’
The leadership of young people is crucial in helping the world recover from the economic, health and political devastation exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to panelists with the Next Generation Task Force of the Parliament of the World’s Religions….