Latest Articles
Briefly noted
A new position to coordinate efforts against institutional sexism and sexual misconduct in the United Methodist Church has been handed to a man by the denomination’s Commission on the Status...
Media CEO creates London bus signs affirming God: "There is a God. Don't worry."
The head of a London-based Russian television station plans to counter a recent atheist poster campaign on London buses by funding even larger placards proclaiming the existence of God....
Poverty Forum hopes to shape White House goals: A bipartisan group of Christian leaders
A bipartisan group of 18 Christian leaders has developed a host of policy recommendations on poverty reduction that they hope will shape the actions of the Obama administration and Congress....
Science group boycotts New Orleans over law on science teaching: The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
A national organization of scientists has informed Governor Bobby Jindal that it will not hold its annual convention in Louisiana as long as the state’s recently adopted science curriculum standard...
New York Catholics get an affable archbishop: Steven Avella of Milwaukee
Steven Avella, a Roman Catholic priest in Milwaukee, said his counterparts in the Archdiocese of New York should soon expect a phone call from their new boss—Archbishop Timothy Dolan....
ELCA again 'disappoints' Missouri Synod Lutherans: Recommendations on gay and lesbian clergy
The president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod expressed “great disappointment and deep sadness” over recommendations before the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to ordain partnered gay ...
Lutheran panel proposes road map to permit partnered gay clergy: A four-step process
A blue-ribbon panel has recommended that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lift its ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy, but only after the church agrees in principle on gay relationsh...
High Court rules against sectarian park monument: Summum of Salt Lake City
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a city park in Utah does not have to include a monument sought by a small religious sect even though it already features a Ten Commandments monument....
Encyclopedia project stirs heated argument: The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization
In the spring of 2006, a University of Chicago Divinity School expert on the history of Christianity was approached by George T....
Housekeepers: Hotel workers organize
One Thursday afternoon this past October, along the main road to Los Angeles International Airport, members of the hotel workers union unrolled a banquet scene....
Worldviews: Walter Mead on foreign policy
The New York Times has called Walter Russell Mead one of the “country’s liveliest thinkers about America’s role in the world.” A senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Rela...
Fool-osophy: Gracefull thought
I collect expressions of anti-intellectualism. I even consider myself to be a connoisseur of the sorts of things that fall within this genre. But this is no mere hobby....
When South is North: Familiar faith of ordinary people
North is North, and South is South, and never the twain shall meet. Well, actually, they do....
Reality check: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 11:1-11; 14:1–15:47
When I was a child, I loved Palm Sunday because we got to act out the biblical version of a ticker-tape parade. Later I learned of the ephemeral quality of stardom and parades and decided that Palm Sunday and Passion Week belong together. As a pastor, I have accepted the dismal fact that most of our people skip Thursday, Friday and Saturday, slipping from parade pandemonium to Easter ecstasy with none of the suffering and pain.
Suffering and salvation: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; John 12:20-33
Psalm 51 does not let any of us off the hook—not the progressives, the evangelicals, or the feel-good agnostics.
Bell's appeal: Ministry to young adults
When Rob Bell walks on stage at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, the 38-year-old sports chic black glasses and black jeans with a wide, white 1970s belt. His geeky, affable presence and energized speaking style warm up the room quickly and signal a seasoned performer. After you hear Bell speak, it’s not surprising to learn that his childhood hero was David Letterman or that as a college student he was lead singer in a band.
Gen-Next preacher: Chatting with Rob Bell
You’ve traveled across the U.S. and the United Kingdom on speaking tours. Who comes out for a lecture by Rob Bell?...
Preachers and Misfits, Prophets and Thieves: The Minister in Southern Fiction
In Martin Clark’s novel Plain Heathen Mischief, the Reverend Joel King has a problem that is ...