Latest Articles
Peripatetic patriarch visits Washington, White House: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church
With his flowing black robe and long white beard, Ecumenical Patriarch Bar tholomew is a living portrait of the 2,000-year-old Eastern Orthodox Chris tian faith....
Calvin College agrees to study faculty limits on gay-rights advocacy: A matter of academic freedom
A controversial memo at Calvin College, which was adopted in May and publicly surfaced in August, said it is unacceptable for Calvin faculty and staff to teach, write or advocate counter to Christi...
Law signed extending hate crime protections: Obama adds sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories
With the stroke of a pen, President Obama expanded federal hate-crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories, a goal for which gay-rights activists have been...
On hot-button issues, UCC is anything but reserved: "Jesus was not about excluding people"
When it comes to volatile political issues, the United Church of Christ is not often content simply to issue statements. ...
Religious conservatives cheer ballot wins: Some observers find outcomes mixed
Results of off-year state elections this November suggest that reports of the religious right’s demise are greatly exaggerated, but some observers found the movement’s influence on election outcome...
When depression leads pastors to suicide: One out of four pastors is depressed
What kind of personal pain would cause a 42-year-old pastor to abandon his family, his calling and even life itself?...
Kept awake by love: The prophetic voices of Advent
In spite of my best intentions, somewhere around Halloween my ability to stay on top of things begins to unravel....
BRICs of faith: Religion and the four emerging powers
When the U.S. government imagines the global future, the term BRIC features prominently....
The way to justice
The poverty in the immigrant Dutch Reformed community where I grew up was not grinding poverty, but almost all families were poor. It was egalitarian; people were treated alike.
Calvin's comeback? The irresistible Reformer: The irresistible Reformer
According to a Time magazine article earlier this year, the “New Calvinism” is one of “ten ideas changing the world right now” (March 23)....
Mountains and more mountains: Baruch 5:1-9; Luke 3:1-6
Our guide assured us that it wasn’t very far, only about 15 minutes or so up the road. Maybe 20. We were on our way to Bassin-Bleu, one of Haiti’s most magnificent waterfalls....
A midwife to all the nations: Luke 3:7-18; Zephaniah 3:14-20
We did a lot of breathing through our teeth: “Hee, hee, hoo. Hee, hee, hoo....
Life Among the Lutherans
When I meet strangers and am asked what I do, and I say I’m a Lutheran pastor, there are exactly two possible reactions....
Be Not Anxious: Pastoral Care of Disquieted Souls
As any pastor knows, anxiety permeates church life and the work of pastoral care....
The Invention of Lying
In the make-believe world of The Invention of Lying, everyone strictly obeys God’s ninth commandment....
A midwife to all the nations: Luke 3:7-18; Zephaniah 3:14-20
We did a lot of breathing through our teeth: “Hee, hee, hoo. Hee, hee, hoo....
Kept awake by love
In spite of my best intentions, somewhere around Halloween my ability to stay on top of things begins to unravel....
The Wright way to read Paul
Few theologians are doing more to change the face of Protestant (particularly evangelical) theology than N. T. Wright....
On Thinking Institutionally
To champion institutions, institutional values and institutional thinking may seem like the ultimate fool’s errand, and On Thinking Institutionally...