Features
Let the children lead: A changed view of ministry
I once saw children's ministry as a steppingstone to something else. This attitude put me in league with the hindering kind of disciples.
Beyond anger and blame: How to achieve constructive conflict
"Speak the truth in love," and "see that none of you repays evil for evil," exhorts St. Paul. Which is easier said than done.
The poor are still with us: Peter Edelman, policy advocate
"I don't think we have laid the ground for a national conversation on poverty. People just don't know the facts."
Inconvenient solidarity: Religion professors support a hotel boycott
Scholars traveling to Chicago for the joint AAR–SBL meeting will have to make hard decisions—beginning with where to lay their heads.
Personal soundtrack
After school, I was milking the cow and listening to the radio when I heard a menacing baritone intone the words, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." It made an impression.
Books
What makes a Baptist?
Scholars who devote themselves to interpreting Baptist tradition must contend with a community that is not sure it has one.
The original separationist
The phrase "separation between church and state" does not appear in the Constitution. Nor does the concept originate with Thomas Jefferson.
Faitheist, by Chris Stedman
Stedman, the assistant humanist chaplain at Harvard, grew up in a secular family. He had a conversion experience in an evangelical setting, but this foundered when he came out as gay....
Living the Questions, by David M. Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy
On more than one occasion, pastors and laypersons from progressive congregations have confided in me, “We are a little weak in our theology; we know what we don’t believe but have trouble articulat...
The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture, by Yoram Hazony
Hazony argues that the classical divide between “Athens and Jerusalem”—or reason and revelation—comes from a misunderstanding of Hebrew scripture....
Called to Lead, by Anthony B. Robinson and Robert W. Wall
In 2006, New Testament scholar Robert Wall and pastor Anthony Robinson coauthored Called to Be Church, a study of the book of Acts....
Departments
The lure of Mormon romance
Twilight and Big Love explore something most romantic dramas have forgotten: the pleasures of moral struggle for the sake of spiritual growth.
Measuring a Year by the Minute, by Margie Davidson
Fiber artist Margie Davidson embarked on a project to mark a year in her life. From birthday to birthday she knitted a stitch to represent every minute of every day. Tags with the date are tied in to mark each day’s progress....
Duty and delight
I cherish Thanksgiving for its cultural institutionalization of the practice of gratitude. And because there are no gifts and few cards.
Leaving and grieving
This is the third time I've said goodbye to a congregation. I should know how by now, but I'm still overwhelmed by the emotional awkwardness.
Short shrift in a long campaign
The presidential campaign has been an exhausting marathon. Yet it's hardly touched on some major issues facing the nation.
News
McGovern was Methodist advocate of Social Gospel
To most American voters in 1972, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota was way too liberal on many issues—and he was beaten badly by incumbent Richard Nixon....
After controversial video, Vatican hosts serious discussion on Islam
As a Vatican delegation prepared in October to leave for war-torn Syria, the Catholic Church’s fraught relationship with Islam emerged as one of the main themes at a major gathering of the world’s bishops in Rome....
Southern diocese leaving Episcopal Church
The Diocese of South Carolina has announced that it has disaffiliated with the Episcopal Church, escalating a long-running skirmish and setting the stage to become the fifth diocese to secede from the denomination....
Adventists call actions to allow women's ordinations 'mistakes'
Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have said that recent decisions by two regional bodies to allow ordination of female pastors were “serious mistakes,” and women who are ordained won’t be recognized—at least for now....
Jewish and Christian groups at impasse over U.S. aid to Israel
An established interfaith group is in danger of disintegrating as major American Jewish groups and prominent mainline Protestant churches differ over U.S....
Backing Romney, Graham alters stance on Mormons
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed language labeling Mormonism a cult from its website after the famed preacher met with Republican nominee Mitt Romney and pledged to help his presidential campaign....
Bhutan bans religious activity ahead of election
Political leaders in the tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan have announced a nearly six-month ban on all public religious activities ahead of the upcoming elections, citing the Himalayan nation’s constitution that says “religion shall remain above pol...
Are ministers and musicians allies or rivals?
Eileen Guenther, the national president of the American Guild of Organists, reveals behind-the-scenes church struggles in her new book, Rivals or a Team? Clergy-Musician Relationships in the Twenty-First Century....
Lectionary
Sunday, November 18, 2012 (Daniel 12:1-3; Mark 13:1-8)
Apocalyptic visions generate fear. Fear needs its antidote: love.