Features
Something to declare: Checkpoint for Christian unity
Over a weekend in November, veterans of the ecumenical movement gathered in Indianapolis to celebrate the career of the dean of North American ecumenists, Paul A. Crow Jr., who retires at the end of this year from his post as president of the Council on Christian Unity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Church as parish: The East Harlem Protestant Parish
Fifty years ago, some graduates of Union Theological Seminary in New York, steeped in postwar ecumenism and idealism, decided to do something about the suburban migration of Protestant laity and the propensity of urban clergy to live a comfortable distance from their congregations. As Don Benedict recalls, "We wanted to return Protestantism to the idea of serving everyone in a given geographical community rather than staying with the concept of church as the central place of worship attracting like-minded people from anywhere."
Can churches save the city? A look at resources: A look at resources
Can churches Save America's cities?
Voices
Barbara Brown Taylor
For richer, for poorer
About a dozen years ago, I took a bunch of rich kids from midtown Atlanta on a mission trip to rural Kentucky. To be fair, many of them did not know they were rich. Because they had only each other to compare themselves to, they thought all teenagers received cars for their 16th birthdays and went on cruises to the Bahamas for their senior class parties. Without exception, they were well fed, well educated, and well supplied with everything their hearts desired. The only thing they were missing was an experience of poverty, so we drove to Appalachia to get them one.