Church
A better response to the decline of the Christian West
Some fight to preserve what is fading. Michel de Certeau shows how this is an enormous theological error.
Honoring the mothers of environmental justice
Dollie Burwell and Hazel Johnson have been under-recognized in environmental studies—and relegated to mere footnotes in church history.
Anorexia in the communion line
As I stealthily slipped the body of Christ into my pocket, I prayed that no one was watching.
As a pastor, it’s my job to pay attention
In the Mennonite tradition, we are all priests. But I still have a particular role to play.
September 10, Ordinary 23A (Matthew 18:15–20)
The only place in the Gospels where Jesus says anything about the church is Matthew 18—and not insignificantly, he brings it up in terms of conflict management.
Prayers rising past the immanent frame
Charles Taylor helps me understand my church’s architecture—and my own struggles with faith.
Choosing solidarity with God
In a sense, I am asking my parishioners the same thing John Wesley asked: Are you going on?
The gates of evangelicalism
Isaac Sharp traces the story of the groups that find themselves outside, pushed there by the conservative White men standing guard.
August 20, Ordinary 20A (Genesis 45:1–15; Psalm 133)
The challenges to unity are great. The reward of unity is tremendous.
My UCC church’s listening experiment with our evangelical neighbors
I hoped our shared faith would provide enough common ground. I was a bit naive.
Discerning the body
Bodies get sick. What becomes of a church body when we enact unity at the table while ignoring our brokenness?
Preservation of church and planet
“The least green thing,” says Bob Jaeger of Partners for Sacred Places, “is to tear down and replace the building.”
Getting ultrareal about the church
Ultrarealism, a concept I learned from distance running, begins by seeing things as they really are.
Luke Powery preaches through and beyond racism
The Duke Chapel dean writes as if the Holy Spirit makes all the difference for faithful preaching—and anti-racism.
Lessons from downsizing my office
As I worked my way through old files and photos, I met with three kinds of sadness.
Walter Earl Fluker’s call to the Black church
In King’s time, the goal was to stir the churches to struggle. Now it’s to wake the dead.
Reimagining how we reimagine church
We need to end our obsession with novelty and corporate jargon.
American Protestantism and what it has done
David Hollinger explores how Protestantism has shaped—and warped—a nation’s intellectual life.