Features
From fear to calm: Spiritual direction on stormy waters
These Gospel stories can seem so familiar. But sit with the disciples in the little wooden boat, and Jesus' power will render you speechless.
Wilderness venture: Toward a more honest sermon
Our hunger is for words that evoke our deepest emotions, that name the wilderness in which we live—but not alone.
Ways to be Lutheran: New churches experiment with polity
Since 2000, nearly 500,000 ELCA members have left to form two new bodies. These churches are organizing themselves along new patterns.
A time to split? Covenant and schism in the UMC
A growing number of UMC clergy are performing same-sex weddings in open defiance of the Book of Discipline. What happens next?
Missing in Mexico: The search for Central American migrants
In a caravan of 45 people, mostly mothers looking for their disappeared children, Santos del Socorro Rojas was one of the lucky ones.
Books
Invasion of the Dead, by Brian K. Blount
Brian Blount mounts a sweeping plea for bold preaching about the God who invades and routes death. Resurrection, he argues, transforms all of us “living dead” into witnesses.
Reformed and antimodern
Some classic works on the origins of modernity give pride of place to Calvinism. D. G. Hart will have none of it.
The Gospel of God’s Reign, by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
Johann Christoph Blumhardt and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, father and son, would be obscure German Lutheran pastors if Karl Barth hadn’t been influenced by them....
Preaching in Hitler’s Shadow, edited by Dean G. Stroud
In the Hitler era, a small number of German pastors associated with the Confessing Church dared to speak against Nazi rule. Some lost their lives for doing so....
In Defence of War, by Nigel Biggar
Nigel Biggar thinks that Western Christians are willfully ignoring that soldiers and military action are essential to social peace and justice.
Departments
Life exam
In a culture that finds repentance unintelligible, impractical, or unnecessary, we are called to witness to its intelligibility, beauty, and importance.
Easter business
Frightened disciples—cowering behind a bolted door—emerged from hiding as fearless and fierce followers. What changed them was the conviction that their crucified friend was alive.
Lenten Departure, Jumping Off Point 1, and Jumping Off Point 2, by Mary Cahill Farella
Mary Cahill Farella, a painter based in Framingham, Massachusetts, was known for her landscape paintings of the cliffs and pastures of Ireland. Then she began exploring the colorations of eucalyptus bark....
Economic boom in Africa
I once presented Africa as a region of extreme poverty, but we now have to take account of economic development. We can only begin to outline the religious consequences.
Cop car philosophizing
Cohle and Hart are magnetic and unforgettable. But True Detective's existential heft never exceeds the palaver of a 101 class.
Whose religious freedom?
The RFRA is a good law. But it wasn’t designed to grant religious rights to businesses—or to let people impose their beliefs on others.
News
After tumult, World Vision reverses decision to hire staff in same-sex unions
Christian relief organization World Vision has reversed its decision after announcing that it would no longer define marriage only as between a man and a woman in its employee conduct manual....
D.C.’s ‘ugliest church’ meets wrecking ball
So long, ugly church. Very few people will miss you....
Franklin Graham says Putin better on gay issues than Obama
Evangelist Franklin Graham is praising Russian president Vladimir Putin for his aggressive crackdown on homosexuality, saying his record on protecting children from gay “propaganda” is better than President Obama’s “shameful” embrace of gay rights...
Ukraine crisis may split Russian Orthodox Church
As soon as troops massed on Ukraine’s border and well before Russian president Vladimir Putin declared that Crimea had rejoined Russia, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church called for prayers “that brothers of one faith and one blood ne...
Alban Institute closes
One of the main institutions providing continuing education and advice to mainline Protestant leaders has announced that it will shut its doors....
Religious nones may not be who you think they are
In recent surveys, the religious nones—as in “none of the above”—appear to lead in the faith marketplace. In fact, none could soon be the dominant label that U.S. adults pick when asked to describe their religious identity....
Multisite church model still vital, study shows
The vast majority of multisite churches are growing, according to a new study, and they are seeing more involvement from laypeople and newcomers after they open an additional location....
Lectionary
Sunday, April 27, 2014: John 20:19-31; 1 Peter 1:3-9
Thomas discerns what neither Mary Magdalene nor the other disciples did: that Jesus is both “my Lord and my God.” I wonder if we need to explore more seriously Thomas’s approach to faith. We sing “We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight,” but what is wrong with walking by both?
Sunday, April 20, 2014 (Easter Sunday): Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4
This Colossians reading is one of those distilled, cryptic passages that draws us into so much more than we can imagine. Such verses expand our capacity to wonder and give praise. They invite us into God’s mystery.