Authors /

L. Gregory Jones

L. Gregory Jones was the Dean and the A. Morris and Ruth W. Williams Distinguished Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry at Duke University Divinity School. He currently serves as President of Belmont University.

Books

What book gives you a powerful glimpse of the Christian life?

10 writers respond.
Books

The Book of Pastoral Rule, by Gregory the Great

Pope Gregory the Great’s famous treatise, written at the end of the sixth century, presents challenges to and must be adapted for contemporary Protestant clergy. It is a provocative countercultural voice filled with wisdom for a young pastor. 
Feature

Something old, something new: Innovation in theological education

Why is theological education necessary? What are the conditions of its fruitfulness? Such questions are both basic and perplexing.
Faith Matters

Learning curve: International engagement

Abraham haunts me. When I wrote my first Faith Matters column in 1997, I began with those three words....
Faith Matters

You’re lonely, I’m lonely: We are created for communion

Could loneliness be as contagious as the H1N1 virus? Is loneliness dangerous to the public’s health?...
Faith Matters

Pastors by degree: Evolution of a vocation

There is no state regulation for the profession of pastoral ministry....
Faith Matters

Boldly humble: And humbly bold

"What causes you to become discouraged?” I asked a visitor from eastern Congo who started a university in that country a few years ago....
Faith Matters

Undermanaged: The leadership deficit in nonprofit organizations

“Nonprofit organizations tend to be overled and undermanaged.” Thomas Tierney, chair and cofounder of the Bridgespan Group, has published several important studies on “the leadership deficit.” But ...
Faith Matters

Maison Shalom: Infectious love in Burundi

"I have to tell you about Maggy," my colleague said excitedly. He had just returned from meetings with church leaders in east-central Africa. "Love made me an inventor," Marguerite "Maggy" Barankitse had told the group. The more she talked, the more my colleagues wanted to see Maggy's Maison Shalom (House of Peace), near Ruyigi, Burundi. There, after the horrors of civil war 15 years ago, she has rebuilt her village. It's an extraordinary resurrection story.
Faith Matters

Investing in Sudan: Space for healing

“What would you say to someone who is hesitant to invest in Sudan’s schools or health clinics given the likelihood that violence will return to Sudan?” My colleague was addressing Archbishop Daniel...

Free Newsletters

From theological reflections to breaking religion news to the latest books, the Christian Century's newsletters have you covered.

Explore Newsletters
Faith Matters

Binge reader: Read widely and see deeply

“How do you develop such rich metaphors for your speaking and writing?” I asked my colleague, a stylist whose images stick with listeners and readers....
Faith Matters

Incredible story? More than a relic: More than a relic

“I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.” The first words of English novelist Julian Barnes’s hauntingly beautiful memoir, Nothing to Be Frightened Of, suggest that this is not going to be y...
Faith Matters

Back home in Gilead: The complexities and beauty of family

What is Jack Boughton really like? How will he respond to Reverend Ames’s blessing as he gets on the bus to leave Gilead again? Will he embrace the grace and forgiveness of the blessing?...
Faith Matters

Monkey business: Unwanted lessons

In Transforming Church, Kevin Ford tells the story of a scientific experiment involving four monkeys and some bananas at the top of a pole in their cage....
Faith Matters

My Facebook friends: Connected but lonely

With one child in college and two teenagers at home, I learned vicariously about “being friended” and “facebooking.” My kids didn’t want me to join Facebook, but relented when I told them that our ...
Faith Matters

More power to you: The wise practice of Christian authority

“Speak truth to power.” The phrase resonates with the biblical prophets and the courage it takes to challenge those preoccupied with maintaining their power at the expense of truth. The phrase rings true in Robert Mugabe’s rule over Zimbabwe, or in the stonewalling silence of a church in the wake of a sexual abuse crisis.Yet in American culture, and especially in mainline Protestantism, the phrase has become hackneyed. Pastors invoke the phrase in sermons; seminary professors use it in classroom lectures; groups organize around it. One person even suggested that the phrase is the very heart of the pastoral vocation. Is it really?

More by L. Gregory Jones ›