Latest Articles
Zanzibar historic cathedral restored, featuring center on slave-trade heritage
The land just outside the narrow streets and corridors of Stone Town, Zanzibar, where Christ Church Anglican Cathedral was built, was once a slave market....
Unshakable in Uganda: A lesbian activist navigates church and politics
The pastor urged the congregation to sign an antigay petition. Clare Byarugaba knew she wasn't the only gay person there.
Hearing beyond the white noise of our souls
We cannot be expected to make an informed, soulful decision about the general election when the very process of sharing information drowns out the thing we most need to hear: the voice of God.
A night on the roof of a cathedral
I recently read about a tourist who was accidentally locked in Milan’s cathedral, called the Duomo, overnight. The American tourist chose to take advantage of his unexpected lock-in and spent the night “among the cathedral’s rooftop spires.”
Buechner 101, by Frederick Buechner
This collection offers a rich range of life-giving words from a beloved theologian-novelist-preacher-speaker-essayist and encourager.
New long-term study shows smaller wage gap for clergy
In the past three decades, many clergy have experienced significant increases in income even as their work weeks declined by more than 15 percent, according to a major new study of clerg...
Election issues, candidate endorsements heard from pulpits, new survey says
Most Americans are hearing campaign issues from the pulpits of their churches during this presidential election season—and some are hearing candidate endorsements as well—according to a new survey....
Politics into poetry
Need a book to replenish your political and spiritual imagination this election season? I recommend Adrienne Rich's Collected Poems.
Sacred and profane
Jesus points out ways in which the line has already been dissolved.
America’s War for the Greater Middle East, by Andrew J. Bacevich
Bacevich provides another case of the fraught dream of managing history that Reinhold Niebuhr critiqued.
American Bible Society looks back, ahead
As the American Bible Society marks its 200th anniversary, and after a series of leadership changes and a recent move to Philadelphia, its leaders are looking to the nation’s past in planning for ...
Wrist-deep in the earth: Notes from the farm
We invest each seed and young plant with the exuberant yet completely rational hope of compounded returns.
New country, new faith
Over the past five years, migrants and refugees have flowed into Europe in unprecedented numbers. Some are converting to Christianity.
Same food, different price
Right after college, in my first city neighborhood, there was this great restaurant I went to. The place was unusual in many ways, a labor of love by its eccentric proprietor....
Where does the church belong?
A few days ago, I took part in a silly Facebook discussion about, among other things, the proper position of the altar in churches. That’s not so interesting, though it was great fun. What struck me was a side comment made by someone about how all of this didn’t matter too much, since the church was meant to be outside, serving the needs of the world.
I’ve heard plenty of people say this, and I never could quite figure out my discomfort.
ELCA affirms points of agreement with Catholics
Nearly 500 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Castle Church door, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States has approved a declaration recognizing “there are no long...
Saving Annville
Preacher has enough violence to satisfy a small planet of adolescent boys. It also has church budget meetings.
White supremacy in American Christianity
Christianity isn’t inherently white supremacist. But Christian faith in America has been interpreted in a way that upholds the tenets of white supremacy, which is built on 18th and 19th century Western hegemonic values. These cultural values, which have been intertwined into mainline American Christianity, protect and uphold the system of white supremacy.
“All men are created equal,” claims the Declaration of Independence.
Why deeper transformation takes a long time
I've lived in this rectory for almost six years. When I moved in it was freshly painted. Some of the colors are lovely even today. But some were too dark....