Reasonable exception

We disagree with the Catholic bishops' stance on birth control. Nevertheless, we think HHS should offer a broader religious exemption.

Battle scars

Veterans turn to clergy for counseling

by Jane Donovan

Mike is a veteran who attended college on the new GI Bill. When he walked into my office, I knew something was wrong.

The morning communion rush

by Amy Frykholm

When John Wesley sent missionaries to America, he said simply, "Offer them Christ." That's what the Chicago Temple sees itself doing, no questions asked.

An elephant in the room?

How meeting agendas get hijacked

by Bradley N. Hill

In many cases, shouting "Elephant in the room!" is an attempt to avoid other, lesser, lurking creatures.

Reasonable exception

Battle scars

Veterans turn to clergy for counseling

The morning communion rush

An elephant in the room?

How meeting agendas get hijacked

Foreground and background

2 Kings 5:1–4; Mark 1:40–45

Feb 06, 2012 by David J. Lose

I have found this year's Republican primaries fascinating, particularly the shifting fortunes of the candidates. While Mitt Romney has been more or less the frontrunner of his ambivalent party, the rest of the field has been one crazy jumble of surges and falls from grace. It's political spectacle at its most interesting, if not necessarily its best.

Gail Collins on Romney, sentence by excruciating sentence

Feb 03, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

I don't have much to add about Mitt Romney's assertion that he doesn't need to worry about the very poor on account of the safety net he aims to dismantle and the Democrats he aims to unseat. Except that you really should read Gail Collins.

Friday digest

Feb 03, 2012

New today (and yesterday) from the Century.

Another year, another "prayer breakfast"

Feb 03, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

My problem with the National Prayer Breakfast isn't simply a secularist one, i.e. government officials should avoid any event with a smack of sectarianism. What I object to is the political exploitation of the importance of prayer in American life.

The morning communion rush

Feb 02, 2012 by Amy Frykholm

When John Wesley sent missionaries to America, he said simply, "Offer them Christ." That's what the Chicago Temple sees itself doing, no questions asked.

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Systemic distortion

Have we embedded a cultural bias into our institutions?

Jan 27, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

We hear stories of systemic discrimination on a constant basis. What are we going to do about it? 

Is there wisdom in fearing God?

What can we learn from this ancient understanding of our divine relationship?

Jan 25, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

Do we play semantic games when we try to explain the words away? The mention of fear is typically wrapped up in abusive relationships, but we can also fear disappointing someone we love dearly.

Saving the family

What are some real steps that we can take to help men and women start and preserve families in our country?

Jan 22, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

So can we put Newt Gingrich's personal life and rhetoric aside and focus on how we can fix our families? Can we move the discussion of family away from demonizing same-gender relationships and taking rights away from women? Can we have an honest discussion about what we can do to help American families?

Supporting startup congregations

Jan 20, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

I learned in seminary that a church is a place where we proclaim the word and administer the sacraments. I’m now learning there’s another criterion: financial sustainability.

Love made visible

Struggling with the question of vocation

Jan 15, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

Once you finally get a job, then you need to get a “real” job. Then you can expect to be laid off at least once in your life. Then you have to retool and enter the workforce again. Then even if you get your “dream” job, you might come to the realization that you’re destroying your family and your personal life, and the dream becomes a bit of a nightmare. Then you begin to realign all your goals. Then you begin to look toward retirement, and you begin to imagine what your vocation is going to be when you retire.

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Gail Collins on Romney, sentence by excruciating sentence

Feb 03, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

I don't have much to add about Mitt Romney's assertion that he doesn't need to worry about the very poor on account of the safety net he aims to dismantle and the Democrats he aims to unseat. Except that you really should read Gail Collins.

Another year, another "prayer breakfast"

Feb 03, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

My problem with the National Prayer Breakfast isn't simply a secularist one, i.e. government officials should avoid any event with a smack of sectarianism. What I object to is the political exploitation of the importance of prayer in American life.

Kermit and Piggy meet the British press

Jan 30, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

Weeks ago I ranted about Fox News's absurd piece on how the new Muppets movie is out to turn children into free-enterprise-hating liberals. Now the film's about to come out in the U.K., and naturally Kermit and Piggy are doing press around the release. Turns out they're perfectly capable of defending themselves on their own.

This just in: Romney paid the taxes he owed, not the taxes some of us think he should have owed!

Jan 24, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

It's not what the headlines are highlighting, but Mitt Romney's 2010 tax return includes one impressive fact: his charitable contributions amounted to $7 million. I know, this hardly put him at risk of losing one of his houses and ending up out on the street till his driver could pick him up and take him to one of his other houses. Still, giving away almost a third of your income is nothing to sneeze at.

How high are our taxes?

Jan 20, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

Among those of us who maintain that not everything the federal government does should be either privatized or eliminated, it's common to point out that income tax rates are a lot lower than they used to be, especially but not only for the rich.

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Updating my religion

Feb 02, 2012 by Ryan Dueck

The secular world is full of holes. We have secularized badly.

Building bridges amid disagreement

Feb 01, 2012 by Janet Edwards

Recently I was asked a thought-provoking question, “How can someone who is set in their convictions build a bridge with those they disagree with?”

Debating religion and the presidency

Jan 31, 2012 by Adam J. Copeland

At last week’s Republican Presidential Debate hosted by CNN in Jacksonville, Florida, a wonderful question was asked of the candidates: if elected, how would their religious beliefs affect their decisions as president.

The weak in faith

Jan 30, 2012 by Diane Roth

It was after a funeral. I was sitting with a couple who were visiting our congregation, but it turned out they had connections with my husband's church, so we began to chat.  And (here's where I get fuzzy) I don't know how this came up or what I said exactly, but I must have said something about "the historical view" or "the critical view" of the Bible, and they both got this stricken, deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Grace and Truth"

Jan 27, 2012 by James Calvin Schaap

Confession time. Once, years ago, when I was a college student home for a break, my mother, who taught piano for most of her life, declared that she would bestow upon her son a 10-dollar bill if he would only sit down at the piano in the den and pound out a hymn, any hymn at all.

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Ministry in the 21st century

What is pastoral ministry like these days, and how is it being shaped in new ways? The Century talked to pastors about the challenges and surprises of their early years in ministry.





Features

Entrepreneurial idealism

Ministry in the 21st century

Nov 30, 2011 | An interview with Carol Howard Merritt

"What would happen," asks Carol Howard Merritt of Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., "if we coupled baby boomers' prophetic focus with the pragmatism of my generation? What if the church unleashed us to plant churches?"
Features

Pastor as witness

Ministry in the 21st century

Sep 22, 2011 | An interview with Kevin J. Long

"It doesn't happen every day," says Kevin J. Long of Orchard Park Presbyterian Church in suburban Indianapolis. "But it is thrilling to see someone begin to grasp the good news of Jesus Christ."
Features

Bearing testimony

Ministry in the 21st century

Jul 28, 2011 | An interview with Katherine Willis Pershey

"People need to hear the good news," says Katherine Willis Pershey of First Congregational Church in Western Springs, Illinois. "If the church doesn't take on this mission, I'm afraid—well, that's where that sentence can end. I'm afraid."
Cover Story

Deeper history

Ministry in the 21st century

Jun 20, 2011 | An interview with Josh Carney

"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."
more