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Squandering and scattering
Every time I come to the parable of the dishonest manager, I’m baffled. Superficially it just doesn’t add up. Does Jesus really commend as our role model “a manager of unrighteousness”?...
Lost things and lions
All of the lectionary texts for this week address lost things. In Jeremiah, a people and a city; in 1 Timothy, a blasphemer and a Roman citizen; in Luke, a sheep and a coin....
Rocking-chair reading: So little time
"So little time, so much to do,” Winston Churchill once commented. I think about that observation as I assemble my summer reading list....
Local knowledge: When gay people are already in ministry
Mainline Protestants have spent decades debating homosexuality....
Century Marks
Foiled by do-gooders: After a man robbed a bank in Marietta, Georgia, one Saturday morning, he attempted to blend into a group of volunteers outside a church who were unloading food for distribution to other churches. When he started losing bills tucked under his shirt, two of the volunteers confronted the robber and held him until police arrived (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 12).
How scripture speaks: Brevard Childs (1923-2007)
Brevard Childs, one of the leading Old Testament scholars of the 20th century and a biblical theologian of international renown, continued to publish major new works right up until his death on Ju...
Elusive communion: The Anglican conversation on sexuality
The conflict in the Anglican Communion over homosexuality is usually represented as a split between the U.S., British and Canadian churches on the one hand and the rest of the Anglican world on the...
Peace dividend: Post-tsunami hope in Indonesia
As the sun rises over Kuala Bubon, Wadi begins mending his fishing nets....
Protestant icons post job vacancy signs: Riverside Church, Union Seminary and the NCC
When Bob Edgar announced that he was stepping down as head of the National Council of Churches, someone suggested that he might apply for the soon-to-be-vacant pulpit across the street at the histo...
Religious leaders urge release of remaining Korean hostages: WCC head visits families
As religious leaders around the world called for the release of South Korean church volunteers held hostage in Afghanistan, the head of the World Council of Churches visited in mid-August with fami...
Church sanctuary refugee deported to Mexico: Elvira Arellano
Recently deported Elvira Arellano, whose yearlong sanctuary in a Chicago Methodist church symbolized for some activists unjust U.S....
SBC pastor backs Huckabee, takes on Americans United: Wiley Drake's imprecatory prayer
An early candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention has called on Baptists to pray for misfortune to befall employees of a church-state watchdog group....
China claims right to select next Dalai Lama: Present Dalai Lama may find successor in India
Against the backdrop of celebrations to mark the countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government has angered religious- freedom activists by attempting to assert greater influence ov...
Blackberry-dependent at home and in church: E-mail addiction
Denizens of Washington, D.C., are the most addicted, but more Atlantans do it in church....
Briefly noted
A retired Episcopal priest has admitted sexually abusing four adolescent boys while serving as rector of St....
The arms deal: More weapons for the Middle East
When Congress returns from its month-long vacation in September, President Bush will ask members to agree to a package of more than $63 billion in military aid and weapons to our “allies” in the M...