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In mainline churches, "mission" is both buzzword and expletive. Into this circle of American anxiety comes a gentle rebuke from the Tamils.

My roommate in seminary was and still is a vegetarian. I grew up eating, and still occasionally enjoy, Spam. Our understanding of food could not have been any more different, and those first few months of negotiating our shared kitchen posed some challenges. We both agreed, however, that we loved to eat.

Not long ago I was talking with friend who has become the pastor of a church in his small home town. He’s been there for a few years, having been away for 20, and has found himself among people he has known all his life. The parish council president, for instance, is an old classmate from nursery school through high school. Some of his elderly parishioners are his old teachers. He knows almost everyone on Main Street, regardless of their denomination or lack thereof. What’s got to him, he said, is the invisible wall that has been constructed between him and all these old friends. 

“There is something odd,” writes Ezra Klein, “about accusing Republicans of po...

John Morreall's book is modeled after Peter Abelard's Sic et Non. Morreall wants Christians to ask questions of their beliefs and practices.

"Revival" usually implies a preacher with great oratory skills. Nashville's Downtown Presbyterian stokes something different.

"If and when a majority of Palestinians start demanding the rights of citizens within...

I went to a wedding the weekend before last, a wedding where I did not officiate....

The Irish film Calvary, directed by John Michael McDonagh, is one of the most satisfying portrayals of Christianity and Christian ministry I’ve seen in a long time....

Marino, professor of philosophy and director of the Hong Kierkegaard Library at St....

c. 2014 Religion News Service...

In the continuing conflict in Iraq, Kurds frequently are mentioned alongside Iraq’s Sunni and Shi‘a Muslim populations as one of the key groups involved in power struggles for which shar...

For the first time ever, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has assembled some of its most treasured historical documents into a single exhibit and is inviting the public to view them....

(The Christian Science Monitor) Over the past couple of decades, easier access to clean water has become a reality for a huge portion of the ...

A few months ago I wrote about the difference between having two jobs and two vocations. A commenter wondered, "What if you really do have two callings?” I’ve been doing bivocational ministry in one way or another for the past seven years. Overall I have found having two vocations—I serve as a hospital chaplain in addition to being a Century editor—to be fruitful and fulfilling. But I have to confess that it isn’t easy.

I was picking up a book at the library one day when I saw a rundown black car pull up. A woman began to painfully extricate herself from the drivers seat. Her clothes were shabby, hair dishevelled, posture bent. Her overall appearance gave the strong impression that the world had kicked her around a bit. She looked up and, seeing me walking toward her, began to wave at me and called out in a raspy voice, “Hey, can you come over here and help me?”

Juan Cole tells the backstory of the revolutions in North Africa, exploring events in the context of their cultural setting. His conclusions are optimistic yet grounded in realism.

Calvary is a masterpiece of religious filmmaking. Its greatest achievement is to convey the impact of a community's near-collapse of faith.

c. 2014 Religion News Service...

c. 2014 Religion News Service...