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January 15, 2020

Volume 137, Issue #2

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Features

A place for homeless families to sleep safely in their cars

How a group of interfaith partners is making use of their idle parking lots

by Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil

Critical Essay

How Katherine Sonderegger finds delight in a humble God

Theology as a love letter to God

by Jason Byassee

Critical Essay

The story of Israeli prime minister Yitzak Rabin’s assassin

Incitement shows the roots of political fractures that remain.

by Mordechai Beck

The sexual harasser in the church soup kitchen

When a culture of abuse thrives within a congregation

by Ruth Everhart

Books

How wealth and unjust tax policy erode democracy

Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman distill a complex topic into manageable takeaways.

by Andrew W. Stevens

Shaping a place where people can become more like Christ

Scot McKnight looks to Paul to define the pastoral task.

by Zen Hess

When liturgy embraces difference

Rebecca Spurrier’s study of a “disabled church” and its lessons for all Christians

by Sarah Jean Barton

How should the church respond to the colonialism that runs through its blood?

Robert Heaney believes the first step is penance.

by Samuel Wells

Departments

First Words

A legacy of wealth amid scarcity

The abundance of giving

by Peter W. Marty

Russia’s royal saints return

The cult of Tsar Nicholas II and the resurrection of Russian Orthodox nationalism

by Philip Jenkins

Faith Matters

My Muslim friend Ali and my Christian commitment to his life of faith

How American hostility toward Muslims has shaped my pastoral vocation

by Isaac S. Villegas

On Art

Mary 2018 (aka Mary at the Border Fence), by Benjamin Wildflower

Benjamin Wildflower is a member of an AFL-CIO trade union who pursues his love of printmaking on the side. He calls the printmaking process a meditative one, but his images pack a punch....

art selection and comment by Lil Copan

From the Editors

Driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants benefit everybody

New Jersey just became the 14th state to offer them.

News

Womanist leadership center awarded grant

The Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership has received a three-year, $400,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

Reform Jews call for slavery reparations

Delegates to the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial meeting in Chicago on December 13 voted overwhelmingly to advocate for the creation of a federal commission to study and develop proposals for reparations to African Americans for slavery....

by Yonat Shimron with Adelle M. Banks contributing

People

Luis Antonio Tagle appointed to head of Vatican evangelization office

In a surprise move, Pope Francis on December 8 appointed Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila as the head of Propaganda Fide, the major Vatican department for evangelization....

by Claire Giangravé

People

Deborah Krause to become first female president of Eden Theological Seminary

Deborah Krause has been named the first female president at Eden Theological Seminary. She will replace David Greenhaw, who will retire from the United Church of Christ institution this summer after a 23-year tenure....

People

Jerry Pattengale appointed interim head of Religion News Foundation

Scholar and author Jerry Pattengale has been appointed interim CEO and president of the Religion News Foundation and CEO and publisher of Religion News Service, a subsidiary of the foundation....

Justice-themed Nativity scenes make a splash

The Nativity scene at Claremont United Methodist Church in California is striking....

by Alejandra Molina and Aysha Khan

Religious Freedom Center plans relocation, expanded programming

With the closing of the Newseum on December 31, the nation’s capital has one less museum, but the Religious Freedom Center that was housed there will continue operations....

by Adelle M. Banks

More than 10,000 Christians petition Boston College to reject Koch grant

More than 10,000 Christians have signed a petition urging officials at Boston College to reject a potential donation from the Koch Foundation toward the Jesuit university’s political science department....

by Aysha Khan