Features
Seeds and sowers: A congregation confronts a parable
As we talked about the story, and as the excitement of the congregation grew more and more palpable, I imagined children playing in heaps of seeds, tossing them into the air.
Losing their religion
Not long ago, European religious cinema thrived. Now, religion typically appears in films only as a problem--and the solution to that problem is usually liberated sexuality.
On a chocolate mission: A socially conscious entrepreneur
While producing award-winning chocolate, Shawn Askinosie seeks to create a business in which everyone involved—from farmer to factory worker to buyer—thrives.
My father’s butcher shop: Lessons learned and unlearned
Working in the shop gave bone and muscle to my pastoral identity. But it also taught me to anesthetize anxiety with long hours, to work out of fear of failing.
Formative moments: Faith at an early age
The term theological education brings to mind formal study. But people's deepest
convictions about God and their deepest stirrings of faith are often
formed at an early age.
The Fighter
Boxing movies are hardly ever about boxing. This one's real subject is the pull of family.
Growing Christians: A four-stage catechism
I can see it in their eyes. It's orientation night for those who are considering our church's catechumenal process. You want me to do all that?
Books
How should we live?
No one has done more than N.T. Wright to make the broad sweep of the scriptural narrative speak vividly to laypeople--while challenging the academy by pressing profound motifs as far as they can go.
Broken Hearts and New Creations, by James Alison
A native of England, James Alison converted to Catholicism when he was 18....
Twain’s sorrows
Twain wearied of lecture tours and struggled with guilt over his absence when two of his daughters died. In his final years, the public seemed to want Twain himself more than his books.
What Matters? by Wendell Berry
When I first read Wendell Berry's 1985 essay "What Are People For?" 12 years ago, I was in college preparing to do exactly what Berry says that colleges prepare people to do—move to someplace...
The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor and The Dangerous Act of Worship, by Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton doesn't want you to read his new book The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor in the traditional way....
Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land, by Joseph E. Lowery
Joseph Lowery is a survivor of the civil rights movement, a compelling Methodist preacher and a fearless advocate for the underdog....
Departments
Recollection … yellow (1)
The dynamic of Elisa D'Arrigo's work seems simple: yellow squares sewn together, with the thread bringing out a sculptural dimension. But a specific memory underlies each piece....
Expect a whirlwind
Instead of fretting about worship style, perhaps we should be more concerned about scale. For all its extravagance, much worship today seems curiously trivial, inward and downsized.
Going deeper
Formation in faith does not happen by accident. It happens when churches
puts commitment and creativity into the process and believe that the
Holy Spirit is sure to show up.
News
Catholic hospitals, bishops reach accord
In the wake of public spats between the Catholic hierarchy and health-care executives, the Catholic Health Association publicly acknowledged that bishops—not doctors or hospital ethicists—have the final say on questions of medical...
U.S. judge rules against Lutheran retirees’ claims
In a blow to retirees of a major Lutheran publishing house, a
federal judge has ruled that the now-dissolved pension plan of Augsburg
Fortress was exempt from federal regulations that would have required it...
After dispute over lesbian coach, Belmont clarifies antidiscrimination policy
Trustees at Belmont University in Nashville have voted to add sexual
orientation to the historically Baptist school's antidiscrimination
policy. In December Belmont parted ways with a successful women's soccer...
Rabbis petition Murdoch to crack down on Fox’s Holocaust references
Hundreds of American rabbis used Holocaust Remembrance Day last month
to push media mogul Rupert Murdoch to "sanction" Glenn Beck and other
Fox News personalities on the use of Nazi and Holocaust references....
Pew study charts growth in Muslim population
The U.S. Muslim population is expected to double over the next 20
years, fueled by immigration and higher than average fertility rates,
according to a new Pew report....
King’s daughter declines helm of SCLC
Fifteen months after being tapped to head the civil rights group
founded by her famous father, Bernice King has declined the post, citing
a leadership clash and an inability to "move forward."...
A ministry team responds to disasters
Three years after a gunman opened fire and killed six people at a
City Council meeting in Kirkwood, Missouri, pastor David A. Holyan found
himself in Tucson, Arizona, within days after the January 8 shootings...
UCC suspends ex-president who admitted to affair
The former president of the United Church of Christ has been
suspended for one year and ordered to undergo a "program of growth"
after he admitted last year to an affair with a former co-worker....
Church leaders praise new travel policy on Cuba
Faith leaders with long-term ties to Cuban organizations are hailing a
change in White House policy that reduces restrictions on religious
travel to the island nation....
At Institute of Peace religions play role in peacemaking efforts
Just steps from the Lincoln Memorial, a new building—topped by a
translucent white roof that resembles the wings of a giant dove—is
puzzling tourists and commuters alike....