Latest Articles
When white people are never racist
No white person ever wants to think of themselves as racist. And that is precisely part of the problem, no white person ever thinks of themselves as racist. Each white person is the innocent exception to the rule, even when confronted with the realities that our society is thoroughly racialized.
How not to cross a boundary
Gretta Vosper has been making headlines for a while now. She’s the pastor of West Hill United Church in Toronto. She also claims to be an atheist. According to a recent article at Vice News, Vosper decided back in 2001 that the idea of a supernatural being who intervened in the affairs of the world was a very silly thing to believe. She has, nevertheless, been soldiering on in her church for the last decade and a half in the service of the more worthy and “progressive” concerns that she feels the church ought to be about.
Making the most of our time
When Martin Luther wrote, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer," I don't imagine that he meant to squeeze another three hours of work and relationships into the hours that remained.
Other people saying things
"When adequate shelter space does not exist, there is no meaningful distinction between the status of being homeless and the conduct o...
One story, three ways
Robert Gregg traces five scriptural stories as they were later understood by commentators—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim.
Is it pretty outside? Then you're less likely to go to church
c. 2015 Religion News Service
(RNS) Can a beautiful landscape compete with religious worship?...
French court rules school lunches no longer have to offer pork alternative
c. 2015 Religion News Service...
One nun's secret ministry to transgender people
c. 2015 Religion News Service
(RNS) Sister Monica lives alone in a small house at the edge of a Roman Catholic college run by a community of nuns....
Faith-based campaign advocates for open, fair Internet rules
Interfaith leaders have long rallied for racial and economic justice. Now the Faithful Internet campaign is calling on America’s religious communities to fight just as hard for net neutrality....
Born again and again
When I told my parents about the altar call, my mother patiently explained that for some of us conversion is an ongoing process.
Limits of welcome: The Sunday I told someone to leave
I told her she was upsetting people with her message of accusation and fear. She responded by telling someone nearby that they were going to hell.
Ngwedla Paul Msiza becomes Baptist World Alliance president
Ngwedla Paul Msiza of South Africa was installed as president of the Baptist World Alliance July 25 during the Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Africa....
A remodeled house, not a new foundation
When his son came out as gay, the man said, he just did not know what to think. To make sense of it he would have to rethink his stance on homosexuality. And he felt that if he rethought that, he would have to rethink everything about his faith. All of a sudden he felt like he was on sinking sand.
At the time, I couldn’t find the words I wanted to speak to this man who so clearly loves his son and loves his Lord. Since then, I’ve spent a good deal of time pondering this cry from a devout Christian’s heart. Perhaps I have the words now.
How a letter becomes a scripture
Having finished a study of 1 Corinthians, my Sunday school class proposed as its next topic to focus on the question of how works like Paul’s letters ended up as scripture—what the process is,...
Cause of slain civil rights activist still resonates, 50 years later
(The Christian Science Monitor) Fifty years have passed since the murder of civil rights activist Jonathan Daniels by an angry segrega...
Revival without tents
I can still smell the wet canvas and sawdust of my father's revivals. He believed that any self-respecting revival was held in a tent.