Features
Chords and discords: Choral music of our time
The church’s recognition of the reality of radical evil opened its music to dissonant, jagged 20th-century soundscapes and what they could express.
Metanoia’s work: Grassroots change in North Charleston
Youth programs at the nonprofit Metanoia are not just about education. Leaders see youth as motivated to revitalize their neighborhood.
Humble connections: Staying in challenging relationships
I could stay home on Sundays when visiting my parents. But I return to the pews of my childhood church because I love the people despite our differences.
Copastors: Twenty years in marriage and ministry
What has made this experiment in marriage and ministry work, both for the congregation and for us?
The other Jerusalem: Poverty and isolation in Arab neighborhoods
There is a sharp contrast between West Jerusalem and mostly Arab East Jerusalem. Along this political and economic divide, violence has erupted.
Books
The Congregationalist burden
Margaret Bendroth intends to rescue liberal Protestants from scholarly anonymity and the disdain that accompanies numerical decline.
How Human Rights Can Build Haiti, by Fran Quigley
Fran Quigley offers a richly informed study of what ails Haiti and what a few dedicated activist lawyers are doing about it.
2 Samuel by Robert Barron
Robert Barron’s grasp of the complex development of David’s character in 2 Samuel is unsurpassed. And his references to history and literature are more than adornment.
Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe, by Erin S. Lane
Erin Lane wants to help millennials and those who love them understand the real countercultural impulse of the church.
Chosen? by Walter Brueggemann
Are the people of 21st-century Israel the chosen ones of Genesis to whom Yahweh promised the land in eternal covenant? Walter Brueggemann gives a nuanced answer.
Departments
Mary’s Heart Pierced and Peace, by Luba Lukova
As a graphic designer, Luba Lukova works with raw symbols and minimal text, stripping away words and symbols to locate a core. Her work also reflects her social activism....
Captured on canvas
In Fra Carnevale’s Annunciation, Mary’s face signals she is pondering the angel’s message in full consciousness of the joys and terrors it will bring.
Mary among the Egyptians
It’s almost certain that historic Christian devotion to the Virgin Mary began in Egypt. The nation’s Muslims often plead for her help, too.
A chaplain’s place
The documentary Chaplains raises a fundamental issue for Christian chaplaincy: what is its relationship to the church?
Welcome intrusion
I went to church full of dread after the recent terrorist attacks. Worship included dedicating a new pipe organ. Was it appropriate to be celebrating in the midst of the hatred and fear?
Be not afraid
The prospect of Syrian refugees entering the U.S. has unleashed a wave of fear. But fear, while understandable, is an unreliable guide to policy.
News
David C. Steinmetz, Reformation historian, dies at 79
David C. Steinmetz, a leading historian of the Reformation, died November 26 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was 79....
Jennifer Butler becomes chair of president's advisory council on poverty
Jennifer Butler, CEO of the strategy group Faith in Public Life, recently became chair of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships....
Churches use food trucks to serve hungry neighbors
Allen Lutes wipes his brow as he prepares another plate of food. The culinary school–trained chef is serving grilled chicken, fresh vegetables, and rice pilaf....
Pope Francis in Africa visit says 'God is peace,' 'salaam'
Pope Francis ended a six-day trip to Africa in the war-torn Central Africa Republic with a call to end religious conflict....
Report puts $160 billion price tag on U.S. hunger
Hunger and food insecurity are so widespread in the United States that they add $160 billion to national health-care spending, according to a Christian advocacy group....
Faith-based groups counter fear of refugees
Religious groups pushed back against a wave of opposition toward Syrian refugees and are working to preserve the United States as a haven for them....
In Myanmar election, anti-Muslim campaign loses in free, fair vote
(The Christian Science Monitor) Yin Yin Moe can still remember the fear she felt when a group of men began rioting in her neighborhood of mainly Muslim-owned stores in downtown Mandala...
Many Christians flee Iraq while others stay and fight
(The Christian Science Monitor) When militants from the self-described Islamic State began attacking the Assyrian Christian village of Qaraqosh in August of last year, many residents t...
Buddhists unite on climate change
(The Christian Science Monitor) The Dalai Lama and 14 other leaders representing roughly 1 billion Buddhists signed a statement expressing support for the Paris climate talks at the en...
Lectionary
January 3, Epiphany Sunday: Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6
If all it took was a star to compel a person to Bethlehem, the Magi would arrive to see a multitude.
December 27, First Sunday after Christmas Day: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Luke 2:41-52
Which mother, I wonder, has more heartbreak. Hannah sacrifices the dailiness of raising her first-born son. Mary keeps her son with her, but as he grows she can surely see that he is heading down a dangerous path.