Life of Faith
The dirty work of ministry
What two drastically different messages from parishioners taught me
Kindness, kinship, and the boundaries of justice
The virtue of kindness depends on who we see as kin.
Examining whiteness through “reparative writing”
Jess Row asks what happens when alienation turns to rage.
Shaping a place where people can become more like Christ
Scot McKnight looks to Paul to define the pastoral task.
My Muslim friend Ali and my Christian commitment to his life of faith
How American hostility toward Muslims has shaped my pastoral vocation
The sexual harasser in the church soup kitchen
When a culture of abuse thrives within a congregation
When liturgy embraces difference
Rebecca Spurrier’s study of a “disabled church” and its lessons for all Christians
What if we treated all of creation—plants and stars, soil and rivers—as our kin?
Biblical scholar Mari Joerstad and indigenous activist Nick Estes challenge our human-centered worldview.
A congregation’s commitment to live out “We do”
We say these words a lot. Lately I’ve noticed what it looks like when we follow through.
January 12, Baptism of the Lord (Matthew 3:13–17)
Jesus knows he’s part of a history, a people’s longing and dreams.
When a father and husband walked out, grace called him home
I preached a word of judgment. The stranger in the back row heard grace.
A lapsed Catholic’s unexpected devotion
Searching for the Mary statue from her childhood, Sonja Livingston found much more.
January 6, Epiphany of the Lord (Matthew 2:1–12)
Genealogies suggest a beautiful inevitability even amid political impossibility.
In Advent and Christmas, desolation and consolation reside together
This time of year, our inner landscapes can seem as bleak as the outer ones.
Has family become an idol?
The Bible gives no sense that the family is an end in itself.
The SAT is unfair. My son is studying for it anyway.
It’s hard to quit the college admissions game.