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Before attending seminary, I worked for several summers as a truck driver. Later it dawned on me that truckers and clergy travel a similar metaphoric highway.

According to Sister Mary Luke Jones, Protestant clergywomen come to Our Lady of Grace Mon­astery's retreats "with a deep thirst for community."

For some reason, going to a funeral and gathering in a cemetery doesn't serve us as it once did. People find satisfaction in erecting crosses along the public way.

In The Lausiac History, fifth-century saint Palladius argues that readers should imitate an ascetic vision, not specific ascetic practices.

When the church I serve undertook a strategic planning process, there was more golden calf than fiery pillar. But while we planned, God summoned.

Although nuclear arsenals have declined, the risk that nuclear weapons might be used is arguably greater now than it was during the cold war.

The New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia lowers the number of permitted nuclear warheads by approximately 30 percent. That is still too many, but it is an important step.

"We have rejected much of our immediate [evangelical] past," says Josh Carney of his church, University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. Looking to older traditions, "we found that some of our objections had already been addressed."

My old office was above a soup kitchen, and its clients regularly came in to ask for money. Eventually I began interrupting each visitor's story by sliding a 20-dollar bill across my desk—a toll I paid so I could return to my work.

The war in Afghanistan is not the only conflict that should end. The whole notion of war as a response to jihadism ought to be junked—and the sooner the better.

"Most Americans would like to see people take care of their own business. On the other hand, most Americans don't like to see tanks crush unarmed crowds."

Among the thoughts that course through my brain when I'm supposed to be focusing on my breathing are thoughts about worship. Being a newcomer to yoga has prompted me to reflect on what it is like to be new to one of our services.

With William Willimon set to retire as bishop of the North Alabama Conference in 2012, it is appropriate to consider how the Willimon experiment in the episcopacy has turned out. It has not been business as usual.

Most churches still approach membership the way they did in the 1960s. But if new modes of affiliation are appearing, churches will need new ways of thinking about membership.

When House of Mercy began in 1996, most attendees weren’t interested in formal membership. In 2008, the church joined the ELCA—which requires congregations to keep a member roll.

Using my hands in worship—whether raising them high or making the sign of the cross—helps to blur the boundaries that slice across the body of Christ.

No conservative I know has seriously argued that same-sex couples need sanctification any less than opposite-sex couples do.

The Episcopal Church is in the position of striving to be both fully inclusive at home and a fully accountable part of the Anglican Com­munion. Can this seeming paradox be resolved?

Who really wants to lead a balanced life? The times I've been happiest—when I was raising young children or consumed with a project—my life has been decidedly out of balance.

Congregations that pay little heed to their bylaws are often in a state of perpetual crisis, chronic conflict and steady decline.