Features
On the other side: An electrician shines shoes in Tijuana
"I went to college," the man said. "I got one more year, then I go over there and start working."
Six stories of sin
The priest asked the thief why he would return a ruined tire. He said, with surprise, Because it wasn't mine, Father. Are you paying attention?
Conditioned to consume: Drug use in American culture
Drugs are perhaps the ultimate consumer product. They give an instant, intense hit, and they're used up in one go.
After prohibition: What will marijuana policy reform look like?
Twenty-two states now have legal cannabis markets of some form. Regulations are being made up on the fly, with consequences not yet known.
Books
Evangelical and gay
Can one be both an evangelical and affirming of same-sex relationships? Into this minefield have stepped two new voices, one younger and one older.
Slow Church, by C. Christopher Smith and John Pattison
Chris Smith and John Pattison think that church should be less like a drive-through and more like a sit-down restaurant that grows its own vegetables.
Worship for the Whole People of God, by Ruth C. Duck
Ruth Duck takes a balanced approach to liturgy. Her aim is not to champion a single style but to offer a foundation for reflection.
God’s longing
Micha Boyett writes tenderly about her Southern Baptist background, even as she grafts herself into a more liturgical expression of the faith.
Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter, by Randall Balmer
Randall Balmer uses Jimmy Carter's career to trace the history of progressive religious beliefs in the post-Watergate political environment.
Departments
Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry ), by Paul, Herman, and Johan Limbourg (fl. 1399–1416)
This manuscript illumination depicting Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Matt. 14:13–21 and parallels) is from one of the most famous books of hours, Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, by the Limbourg brothers....
I don’t feel your pain
Empathy made it big in an era some call the "me generation." By discovering my feelings inside you, even you are about me.
Pot and public health
The "war on drugs" approach to marijuana has had major costs. But the dawning era of legal marijuana presents its own set of public health problems.
The opposite of homelessness
Hugh Hollowell didn't start Love Wins to convert souls or sober up addicts. He wanted to provide pastoral care to homeless people.
When the Westerners leave
After centuries of Westerners going to Africa to teach, documentary filmmaker James Ault goes to learn.
Divisive divestment
The conflict over divestment seems to divide Presbyterians more deeply than past struggles. Old friends are barely speaking to one another.
News
Francis: mafia members ‘are excommunicated’
Pope Francis is calling for Italy’s organized crime groups to give up “the adoration of evil,” telling members of the mafia they “are excommunicated” from the Catholic Church....
PCUSA votes to divest funds, to marry gays where legal
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has decided to divest church funds from three American companies....
Five takeaways from the Supreme Court decision
1. Corporations can’t pray, but they do have religious rights....
Vatican diplomat convicted of sexual abuse, defrocked
A former Vatican ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, has been defrocked and is likely to face criminal prosecution at the Vatican after a church inquiry convicted him of child sexual abuse....
Judge: let passengers challenge no-fly list
Muslim Americans and their civil rights allies are celebrating a federal judge’s decision ordering the U.S. government to allow passengers on the no-fly list to challenge their inclusion....
Supreme Court rules for Hobby Lobby
The Supreme Court has sided with the evangelical owners of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., ruling 5-4 on June 30 that the arts-and-crafts chain does not have to offer insurance for four types of emergency birth control that conflict with company owners’ ...
Interfaith civic groups find ‘bridging prayers’ helpful
Just because interfaith, interracial, and varied ethnic groups share a common cause doesn’t mean a diverse coalition can hang together.
It often takes prayer. And not just a “Bless this group, Amen” invocation....
Moravians in 13 states to ordain gay clergy
The Northern Province of the Moravian Church in North America approved a proposal allowing the ordination of gay and lesbian people—whether single, married, or in covenanted relationships—and calling for the creation of a rite for same-sex covenan...
United Methodist pastor reinstated on appeal
In a surprising reversal, a Pennsylvania pastor who was defrocked last year after he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding has been reinstated....
Lectionary
Sunday, August 3, 2014: Matthew 14:13-21
The people are hungry. Jesus' solution is even more improbable than the disciples' solution.
Sunday, July 27, 2014: Matthew 13: 31-33; 44-52
Six words of scripture always transport me to an amazing place: “The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”