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Grace without conversion
Our congregation helped build a parish school in the West Bank. In return, Palestinian Christians stretched our understanding of the gospel.
Pastor in Oklahoma pursues suit against ‘pagan’ license plate
A Methodist pastor of a suburban Oklahoma City church is suing the state, claiming its license plate image of a Native American shooting an arrow into the sky violates his religious liberty....
For the fun of it
Last Tuesday night, I held the second of a short series of Lectio Divina meetings at church. I pulled the chairs into a circle, put the small candle out and prepared for whoever might show up....
Monday digest
New today from the Century: Craig Barnes on grace without conversion, Lou Carlozo reviews Kris Kristofferson, more.
Breath of silence
When the angel of the Lord told Elijah to go to Mount Horeb, Elijah knew he would encounter God. After all, Horeb was where God spoke to Moses with fire and to Israel with a storm. But for Elijah, God didn’t show up as expected.
Feeling Mortal, by Kris Kristofferson
It’s easy to write Kris Kristofferson off as another country songwriter trawling the shallows of whiskey, diesels and cornpone imagery. But that’s a myopic read of the Rhodes scholar, William Blake devotee, Golden Gloves boxer and helicopter pilot.
City plans to bury bodies in Gosnell case
Despite repeated requests from religious leaders and antiabortion activists, city officials in Philadelphia plan to cremate and bury the 47 bodies recovered from the office of abortion provide...
Other people saying things
"Extraction companies are buying up the rights to drill on private property with unprecedented speed. At stake are geysers of money. And in the thousands of cases in which the landowner is of the Amish faith, their business partner would never dream of taking them to court should things go awry."
What does evangelism look like?
Almost every Sunday after church, I stop at the grocery store....
Landless in North Dakota
When I went to Williston, North Dakota to report for the Century on churches in the oil boom, I had d...
Friday digest
New today from the Century: Jason Byassee on Star Trek, Diane Roth on evangelism, more.
Galactic hopes
Star Trek has long been insistently nonreligious. But in the end it has not replaced religion, just repurposed it.
The Beautiful Old, by various artists
This project by producers Paul Marsteller and Gabriel Rhodes is an admirable tribute to pre–World War I popular music....
Cultivating a holy imagination: Ministry in the 21st century
"I eventually realized that leaders are not made by books or workshops," says Lisa Yebuah of Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Leaders are people who marry their knowledge to action."
Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury to meet for the first time
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Southern Baptists condemn gay Scouts policy but won’t force a boycott
c. 2013 Religion News Service...