Latest Articles
Zealot, by Reza Aslan
Reza Aslan’s Zealot arrived with an enormous splash. An engaging and personal interview on NPR’s Fresh Air attracted widespread interest....
Walter White’s many sins
It’s not clear whether Walt will violently lose his life in the Breaking Bad finale. It is bitter irony and justice that he will lose his family.
Is a Mexican drug lord the cause of violence in Chicago?
Bloomberg’s magazine piece on the drug trade in Chicago is insightful and well reported as far as it goes. Here’s how far it goes: it more or less blames the city’s high murder rate on one man, the head of a Mexican cartel.
When pavement ends
This sign sits in our front yard. Since it’s covered from view by a line of trees, I rarely glimpse it from the house....
Friday digest
New today from the Century: LaVonne Neff reviews Sue Halpern, Laura Kelly Fanucci on what happens when the pavement ends, more.
A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home, by Sue Halpern
Pransky, a middle-aged Labradoodle, was bored. So was Sue Halpern, Pransky's owner. Then Halpern learned about Therapy Dogs International.
Shared meal
World Communion Sunday is one of the best ideas Presbyterians ever had. But it doesn't seem to be considered as important as it once was.
Obamacare for real
Obamacare's hard-line opponents aren't worried that the law won't work as planned. They're worried that it will.
Deciding on pastor’s pay still tough, experts say
It may be one of the most uncomfortable—and sometimes contentious—questions in congregational life: How much should we pay our senior pastor?...
PCUSA continues to see exodus of churches
The exodus from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues as congregations seeking a more conservative home leave for other denominations....
Christian college parts ways with transgender professor
A California Christian college has asked a professor who was once its chair of theology and philosophy to leave after he came out as transgender....
Pope stuns church with pastoral approach to sexual, moral issues
Pope Francis rocked the Catholic Church and surprised the wider world with a free-ranging interview in which he envisioned a church that is not “obsessed” with a few sexual and moral issues and is ...
Muslims decry killings in Pakistan, Kenya and Iraq
The Muslim Public Affairs Council condemned the actions of extremists who have killed hundreds during the weekend of September 20–22 in Pakistan, Kenya and Iraq....
The Obamacare exchanges and me
I opened a letter from my medical insurance company the other day that informed me that as of October 1, my plan will no longer exist....
Mental health and youth ministry
Last year a college student that I only knew briefly in high school committed suicide. Last month a young man that I knew much better when he was in high school also took his own life....
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: the editors on budget battles and the Obamacare rollout, John Buchanan on World Communion Sunday, more.
Robert McAfee Brown, selected with an introduction by Paul Crowley
Decades ago when I was a graduate student at Union Seminary in New York City, Robert McAfee Brown was the hot young teacher of theology.
No more villains
My school-aged self was intrigued by the Purple Pie Man. Since then, kids' TV has spun off in two directions: more violence for boys, threatless universes for girls.
Catholic chaplains given marching orders barring service to gay couples
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Conservatives promote House bill to protect opponents of gay marriage
c. 2013 Religion News Service...