Latest Articles
Ruling on Obamacare’s birth control mandate creates legal limbo
(The Christian Science Monitor) A new federal appeals court ruling could put the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate to the te...
The mosque next door: Getting to know our Muslim neighbors
Muslims have been in our town for a while, but the mosque is new. Last spring our church paid a call on our neighbors there.
Screen time
A screen in a sanctuary used to be a signal that a congregation had taken a side in the worship wars. Now it's just a sign that a church is open and functioning.
The hard work of welcoming
I have three fantastic student interns this year who are learning about the hard work of welcoming. At our college’s Presbyterian House we host a “Dinner and Devotion” program every Sunday that we advertise as “All Students Welcome.” Of course, not all students feel welcome attending a religious and spiritual life program, unless you work hard to let them know that you mean it—that they really are all welcome.
Episode 2: Otis Moss III
Matt talks to the pastor of Chicago’s Trinity UCC about preaching with his father, succeeding Jeremiah Wright, the unique way the African American church reveals God, and the church and mental health.
The Adventist adaptation
In the 1950s, the Adventists celebrated the milestone of a million adherents, mostly in the U.S. Now they have 18 million, mostly elsewhere.
Disciples aren't greater than
Our proclivity for greatness is rather embarrassing, isn’t it? No wonder the disciples keep their mouths shut when Jesus inquires about the topic of their conversation on the road. We want it, and we want it big time—recognition, sway, importance—but we also get that we shouldn’t admit this out loud.
Is theology better training in management than an MBA?
The recent furor about the closure of the religious studies department at the University of Stirling in Scotland made me think again about the value of studying theology at university. In response to something a friend posted about this on Facebook, I remarked that it was not for nothing that theology was called “the Queen of the Sciences,” and it probably does a better job of equipping people for management than an MBA.
Nine Essential Things I’ve Learned about Life, by Harold S. Kushner
When Kushner began his vocation as a rabbi, he soon discovered that the members of his synagogue were asking questions he had not encountered in seminary....
Why #IStandWithAhmed is about more than a Muslim boy in Texas
(The Christian Science Monitor) Less than a day after news broke that a 14-year-old Muslim boy had been arrested for having a homemade...
Syrian refugee crisis: Are wealthy Gulf states doing their part?
(The Christian Science Monitor) As the number of migrants flooding Europe’s shores and borders swells, wealthy Arab Gulf states have c...
Al Aqsa Mosque: Can Israel, Jordan prevent Jerusalem from catching fire?
(The Christian Science Monitor) The images on social media this week made Jerusalem’s Old City look like a conflict zone, with black s...
Proposal to loosen ties in Anglican Communion draws mixed response
A proposal to loosen the ties of the 80-million-member Anglican Communion, currently the world’s third-largest Christian body, drew a variety of reactions....
A time for change
There is a time for everything, the preacher in Ecclesiastes observed. It is now time for new leadership at the Century.
United in suffering: Martyrdom as Christian vocation
Are the rest of us so different from our brothers and sisters in Libya or in Charleston? Are they heroes with whom we can never identify?
Rising to your level of misery
They can’t pay you enough money to do a job you hate.
I have a lot of lasting memories of my grandfather—homegrown tomatoes, “Heart and Soul” duets on the piano—but that’s the primary piece of wisdom I remember him passing along to me. And it’s a good one.
What we're learning from a long wait to adopt
The other month my spouse and I received a packet in the mail from our adoption agency. It came in a large, white, important-looking envelope—a hopeful envelope. Maybe something good is about to happen, we thought.
Liberia debates amendment declaring country to be a Christian nation
Christian leaders in Liberia—including the nation’s president, who is a United Methodist—are speaking against a proposal to amend the nation’s constitution to declare Liberia a Christian state....
Stopping racism with a smile?
Last semester, I had students review Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith. For those unfamiliar with this book, the authors make two general claims:
America is a racialized society. White evangelical Protestants are unwitting proponents of racialization.