Latest Articles
American Bar Association looks into discrimination complaint at BYU law school
c. 2016 Religion News Service...
Public policy and love of neighbor in a time of transition
We live in an era of transition between more stable ages. We face material choices now that will shape and serve our communities for long generations to come. Society is emerging in fits and starts from centuries of essentialism that defined people by race, gender, religion, and class into narrow identities with determined roles.
Why the church is a bad sport
It was a silly video, really, just a little bit of feel good fluff that drifted into my social media filter-feeding.
Into the dark with Dante
Dante speaks to the uncertainties of every generation, to those who have awakened lost in an impenetrable darkness.
New pastor seeks to bring hope to Charleston church following massacre
(The Christian Science Monitor) Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church church in Charleston, South Carolina, has a new pastor...
Russian pressure forces historic Orthodox summit to meet in Crete
c. 2016 Religion News Service...
In Austria, a hotel where refugees are the hosts
(The Christian Science Monitor) It is less than a year old, but the reviews for this bright, stylish hotel in Vienna on Trip...
Eugene Borowitz, Reform Jewish leader, dies at 91
Eugene B. Borowitz, a leader and theologian in Reform Judaism, died January 22 at age 91....
Burying William: Funeral for a gang victim
I didn't start my day thinking about gang killings. But then a man showed up and asked about a funeral for his nephew—on Palm Sunday.
February 14, First Sunday in Lent: Luke 4:1-13
As Luke tells the story, even though Jesus doesn’t turn stones to bread, he feeds those who hunger. And even though he says no when Satan offers him political power, a vision of God’s all-encompassing reign of shalom is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry.
Ultra-Orthodox Israeli men break a taboo by working
At the age of 36, Michael Luc realized he needed to find a good job....
Wrestling with my angel
A year or so ago the story of Jacob wrestling the angel came up in the lectionary....
Has the Episcopal Church been plutoed?
What really happened at Canterbury this month, nobody knows. Nobody can know, because it hasn’t finished happening....
Indonesia's family planning program is challenged by religious conservatives
(The Christian Science Monitor) The village of Wonosari, nestled in the hills above the Javanese city of Yogyakarta, is experien...
Lies: Essays by readers
In response to our request for essays on lies, we received many compelling reflections. Here is a selection.
The gifts of the circle
The women stood at various points around the large conference room. Each had a large piece of poster board in front of her....
Found in translation
On a brutally cold and foggy Friday afternoon, our local sponsorship group welcomed our new Syrian friends to our city in Canada. Several times as I was driving them from the airport to the home we had prepared for them, I wondered what must have going through their minds as they looked out on the frosty white scenes that greeted them. Have they dropped us off at the North Pole?!
I couldn’t ask them what they were thinking, of course, because I speak zero Arabic and they speak next to no English.
Still life with winter squash: Notes from the farm
It landed on my patio in early November, a pointy-ended battleship that was more mineral than vegetable. It stayed there as the days got shorter.
Gifts for excellence
For several years, I directed the Center for Pastoral Excellence at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. The center hosts five initiatives that together address and support the long arc of ministry through a variety of resources and research projects. Its name--the Center for Pastoral Excellence--has been somewhat controversial.
Zionism's theological roots
How does theology shape Jewish democracy, in light of the many competing claims and complex relationships in the land of Israel?