Interviews
Editing the Christian Century through decades of cultural change
“It's the nature of the gospel to upend settled views.”
How Sister Helen Prejean became a “social justice sister”
“What saves us is learning how to love, even to the point of death.”
Sin and grace in public discourse
“We’ve lost the capacity to talk about the universality of brokenness—and belovedness.”
Why climate activist Bill McKibben is concerned about AI and genetic engineering
“It comes down to human solidarity. Another name for solidarity is love.”
Jesus the (Second Temple-era) Jew
“If we don’t understand the Judaism of Jesus’ time, how can we understand him and his message?”
A white, southern pastor takes a hard look at the sin of racism
“It’s not that Southerners don’t get racial issues. We just don’t get them right.”
Talking with Miriam Toews about Women Talking
“My novel is just one small part of a conversation that can’t be silenced.”
A young poet shaped by religious language
“When I was nine or ten, I decided I needed to read the King James Bible.”
Knowing and preaching the Jewish Jesus
“If to get a good message you need to make Judaism look bad, then you don’t have a good message.”
Antiracism is everyone’s work
“No one is born with racist ideas. People consume them, as others produce them to justify racist policies.”
Writing poetry as a step toward common ground
“My workshops are not designed to create poets. I am using poetry as a catalyst.”
Can Christianity be a counterforce to finance capitalism?
“Religious vocation sits very uneasily with individual self-advancement.”
Writing about faith in the golden age of television
“If you want to make a room full of liberal, compassionate people turn on you, talk about God in an unironic way.”
How Dove’s Nest trains churches to keep children safe
“Churches are places of high trust—and high risk.”
A filmmaker turns up the volume on peacemaking work
“Peace is not resting. Peace is loud.”
They sold First UMC and put up a tent in the parking lot
"It feels vulnerable to be the weird lady outside preaching sermons."
Why Jimmy Carter is hopeful
“I look on my faith as a liberation.”
A climate scientist talks—respectfully—to climate-change skeptics
“My message is that you don’t have to change who you are to care about this issue.”
The gifts of black youth
"Teens have the ability to do theological reflection and to connect their faith to issues of justice."