The most-read Century Blog posts
Here are the year's most-read posts by the Century editors and guest bloggers. (Listed separately: the top posts from Then & Now, the CCblogs network, Drew Hart's blog, Carol Howard Merritt's blog, and Steve Thorngate's blog.)
1) Do I have to take Isaiah 58:7 literally? by Celeste Kennel-Shank. Supporting nonprofits is like bringing homeless people into your own house. Right?
2) American Christianity in exile? by Benjamin J. Dueholm. We still enjoy a kind of wealth, prestige, institutional heft, political clout, and legal protection that would stupefy Jesus of Nazareth.
3) Warning: The last shall be first, by Gordon Cosby, with Rebecca Stelle. As I am dying, I am seeing in a new way. I am seeing that weakness is a gift.
4) Bart Ehrman is part of a legitimate, ongoing conversation, by Greg Carey. This is not about liberals and secularists attacking the church. It’s an ongoing debate that crosses the usual party lines.
5) The quest for a common loaf, by Angela Dienhart Hancock. “Take and eat,” Jesus said, passing the bread around. And everybody did—except for Philip, who went away hungry, for he was allergic to gluten.
6) Five comforts of monocultural church, by Amy Frykholm. In a monocultural church, you have the benefit of the illusion that everyone understands you and you understand everyone.
7) Why I listen to K-LOVE Radio, by Katherine Willis Pershey. I got "saved" at a Carman concert when I was 12. It wasn’t the first time.
8) Why I stayed, name withheld. Each woman’s story is different, and each woman’s story is differently shattered.
9) Reading the Fifth Gospel, by Ruth Everhart. Why are Presbyterians so fixated on the politics of Israel? Maybe because we have no idea how else to approach this land.
10) Three lessons mainline pastors can take from Mark Driscoll's resignation, by L. Roger Owens. We watch from a distance with bemused smiles. But this is a cautionary tale.
11) Misogyny, #yesallwomen, and the role of the church, by Bromleigh McCleneghan. Each mass killing scares me. This one is harder.
12) My fear of the cross, by Darcey Steinke. Religion does not make me happy. It gives me tools to help me deal with myself.
13) Preaching with a broken heart, by McKinna Rae Daugherty. My long-time boyfriend and I recently ended our relationship. The next week, I was scheduled to preach.
14) Five ways churches can support families providing foster care, by Jamie Calloway-Hanauer. We often give foster parents pedestal status. But they, like the rest of us, need all the help they can get.
