Features
Take and eat? When church members prefer just a blessing
Matt grew up in the Episcopal Church. One Sunday he appeared at the altar—with his arms crossed over his chest.
Blest and kept
Why and how I bless my children
Worth the wait: The rare blessing of a benediction
As a child, I followed the order of worship in the bulletin, mentally checking off each item. My eyes were on the prize.
Field of greens: Notes from the farm
By summer, the plants are working overtime. It's a wonder we don't have as many words for green as the Inuit have for snow.
Failure to launch: I planned a service for students. None came.
I lit the candles, opened the doors, picked up a handful of bulletins, and stood at the entrance. I smiled at a group of 15 students. One waved and then they turned and walked to the grocery store.
Books
Four Testaments, edited by Brian Arthur Brown
Canadian pastor Brian Arthur Brown presents the sacred scriptures of four Eastern faith traditions alongside critical essays about the texts.
Jesus and the Latter-day Saints
According to some Mormon traditions, God and Jesus have made babies—God with the Heavenly Mother, and Jesus with one of his wives.
Why give alms?
Belief in the incarnation places suffering bodies within the realm of Christian responsibility.
The power of small sins
Far from being meaningless slights with minimal harm, microagressions intrude on the spiritual lives of those who are already marginalized and oppressed.
Roots and Sky, by Christie Purifoy
Even in the jagged edges of life, God’s glory shines. And we are the cultivators of this glory.
Speaking of the cross
Much of what Christianity has long been saying about the cross of Christ is problematic. So what is to be done about it?
Celebrating centrist Muslims
There’s some good news amid the gloom of global terrorism—namely, the little-known world of wasatiyya, or centrist, Islam.
Departments
When does faith become fraudulent?
Should truth in advertising law apply to religious claims? It's a live issue in Africa, where governments could learn from American experience.
Prophets of imagined futures
Since Charles William Eliot's future is our past, it's easy for us to see where his prophecy missed the mark. But could we do better?
Transfiguration, by Julia Stankova
Julia Stankova began her painting career in Sofia, Bulgaria, restoring icons. Inspired by the symbolic meaning of the images, she began painting her own works....
Winning an empty game
The cross is anything but a success story. Failure and disappointment are at the heart of Christianity.
Athletes without borders
In Rio, refugees will compete under an international flag. Maybe this will inspire new reflection on the purpose of a nation.
The People v. reality
If we are looking for the moment that precipitated our fall into the media blitz that is our common life, we might consider the O. J. trial.
News
Yvonne Studevan, descendant of AME founder Richard Allen, among those celebrating denomination's 200th anniversary
Standing outside the historic Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Yvonne Studevan was full of pride as she saw her great-great-great-great-grandfather being honored with a new, six-foot bronze statue....
What could bring seekers to church? survey asks
The “seekers” have left the church—if they ever came....
Is Brexit cause or effect of rise in hate?
(The Christian Science Monitor) When it succeeded, Britain’s campaign to leave the European Union, called Brexit, shook up a deeply unpopular political order....
Medical workers in Israel support each other’s religious observance
Stuart Levy, a nurse at a Jerusalem hospital, updates his ward’s work schedule several times a week with staffers’ vacations, birthdays, and more religious holidays than many people know exist....
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and teacher of tolerance, is dead at 87
Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died at age 87.
Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and museum, confirmed July 2 that he died at his home in Manhattan....
Church of Sweden renews connections with drop-in weddings and baptisms
(The Christian Science Monitor) You can drop in at a hairdresser without an appointment or show up at a clinic unscheduled. But what about a drop-in church wedding or a baptism?...
The Muslim Brotherhood weighs its options amid political challenges
(The Christian Science Monitor) The Muslim Brotherhood lost its last real stronghold in the Arab world when Jordan shuttered the movement’s headquarters in Amman this spring...
Anti-Semitic assaults increase in U.S.
Violent anti-Semitic attacks in the United States rose 50 percent last year to a total of 56, according to the Anti-Defamation League....
Lectionary
August 21, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 13:10-17
The unnamed woman’s healing in this week’s Gospel reading is a story of expansion, revelation, vision widened by grace. There’s more to the story, however.
August 14, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jeremiah 23:23-29; Luke 12:49-56
Fire is a dangerous image for Jesus to use, even if he doesn’t mean it literally. What kind of God would bring fire to the earth?