Latest Articles
Winkler picked to head National Council of Churches
As the National Council of Churches struggled year after year with growing deficits, a United Methodist official who headed the denomination’s social justice arm from a building on the edge of Capi...
First African woman elected to high World Council post
An Anglican church leader from Kenya, who has served multiple religious posts in Africa and with the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, made ecumenical history on November 8 when she was elect...
Christian college council removes new president
The board of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in October fired its new president barely ten months into his tenure, without making the reasons public....
Undocumented yet baptized: A quandary for Southern Baptists
A Southern Baptist Convention official says evangelicals are galvanizing around immigration reform because increasingly the issue affects someone they know....
Congregations becoming more diverse
America’s pews are becoming dramatically more welcoming to gays and lesbians, and they increasingly reflect the nation’s racial and ethnic diversity, according to the latest results from a major st...
Cavaliers, Borderers and immigration reform
Last week, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he has no intention of movi...
Three challenges I experience in preaching—and four opportunities
At the door of the church on a recent Sunday, I was talking to a parent of a younger boy. She said to me, "my son has finally connected with what you do! He asked me [about your preaching]: 'Is that his job?' I answered, 'yes, it is.' And then he said, '...what does he do the rest of the week?'"
Exactly. The answer—only partially tongue-in-cheek—is 'he thinks about preaching.'
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: Amy Frykholm on immigration reform and the divided GOP, David Lewicki on the challenges and opportunities of preaching, more.
My True Story, by Aaron Neville
Now in his seventies, Aaron Neville can still locate the incredibly sweet spot between full voice and falsetto. The R&B legend’s singing remains mellow but quietly forceful—as if he could let loose at any moment but chooses not to.
Blush, by Shirley Hershey Showalter
Showalter grew up with a love of the land and an appreciation for the Mennonite faith in which she was reared, but there was no way she could be kept down on the farm....
Pastor faces credentials loss over gay weddings
A United Methodist jury has given a Pennsylvania pastor 30 days to agree not to break church law by presiding at future same-sex weddings or give up his clergy credentials....
Putting faith in public diplomacy
G. K. Chesterton once called the U.S. the “nation with the soul of a church.” The Pakistanis now find us the nation with the soul of a Predator drone....
You are not a bad person. You are just a person.
One night recently, after a tearful recovery from an afternoon battle of wills, I asked my son if he could describe to me what exactly he thinks went wrong....
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: Ralph Wood on C. S. Lewis, Mark Edwards on public diplomacy, more.
The Invisible Girl, by Parov Stelar Trio
The best hyphenated genres don’t combine disparate worlds; they embrace commonality.
Inexhaustible Lewis
"You'll never get to the bottom" of C. S. Lewis, said Tolkien. The books published for the 50th anniversary of Lewis's death reveal the truth of this statement.
Sunday, December 1, 2013: Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
In the social media I often read about a Christian community that has excluded an innocent person or demonized a marginalized group....