Going Catholic?

Evangelicals and birth control

by Amy Frykholm

Is there an anti-birth control shift taking place among evangelicals? If so, do their arguments mirror Catholic thought?

The baseball life

by John M. Buchanan

When I was ten, baseball became the organizing principle of my life. The game taught me that success is rare and precious.

In Woolf's footsteps

by Stephanie Paulsell

During spring break I made a pilgrimage. With my husband and my daughter, I traced the path Virginia Woolf took through Italy in 1908.

Sent to serve

William Willimon on being bishop

by George Mitrovich

“I find little support for democracy in scripture. Bishops have power to send because all ministry in Jesus’ name is ‘sent.’”

Going Catholic?

Evangelicals and birth control

The baseball life

In Woolf's footsteps

Sent to serve

William Willimon on being bishop

Apostolic fate

Acts 1:15–17, 21–26

May 15, 2012 by Katherine Willis Pershey

I was drying dishes and absentmindedly singing the song that had been stuck in my head for days when my husband suddenly came barreling down the staircase and into the kitchen. Looking frantic, he asked me what had happened. We were both confused; he was convinced that I had cried out in pain, and he fully expected to walk in on a grisly cooking incident.

We quickly realized the source of the miscommunication. The song I’d been singing was Lady Gaga’s “Judas,” and I sounded like a lady in distress as I belted out, “Judas, Juda-a-a.”

Tuesday digest

May 15, 2012

New today from the Century: Will Willimon on being bishop, John Buchanan on baseball, more.

Some marriage equality links

May 15, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

Last week I joined the chorus of those who wished for a bit more from the president's endorsement of same-sex marriage. Among those who were more unambiguously enthusiastic, I found E. J. Graff's later post pretty compelling.

Monday digest

May 14, 2012

New today from the Century: Evangelicals and birth control, post-Mother's Day murmurings, more.

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Post-Mother's Day murmurings

What do you do to celebrate in your congregation?

May 14, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

Sue came into the church office in order to help with some paperwork and plans for Sunday morning worship. “What are we doing for Mother’s Day?” she asked.

I paused. I had always benignly neglected Mother’s Day at our church. I thought of it as a Hallmark holiday, and not something that should fit on a liturgical calendar. I was taught in seminary that we should never mention it. Plus, there were personal reasons as well.

How do we find the time for social media?

Eight ways to manage your social media ministry

May 10, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

Church leaders are already strapped with not enough hours in the day. And now we’re supposed to be engaging in social media too? How do we manage it all?

Cancer and theology

May 07, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

Our family is moving. As we pack up our stuff, making sure that each item is securely packaged, I’m also shifting things inside myself. My husband is going to start a new church. For the first time in fourteen years, I will not be a pastor serving a particular congregation.

(Re)imagining Christianity

Apr 28, 2012 by Carol Howard Merritt

What is one belief, practice or element of Christianity that must die so that Christianity can move forward and truly impact the world in the next 100 years?

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Some marriage equality links

May 15, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

Last week I joined the chorus of those who wished for a bit more from the president's endorsement of same-sex marriage. Among those who were more unambiguously enthusiastic, I found E. J. Graff's later post pretty compelling.

The wrong question, but still the right answer

May 10, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

Early this week, the same video kept popping up on my Facebook wall. It's from a press conference in Greensboro, at which North Carolina NAACP president William Barber (whom the Century profiled here) made a crucial point: "How do you feel, personally, about same-sex marriage?" is the wrong question. The right question is about equal rights under the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

By midweek, my Facebook wall was overwhelmed with comments (and links) about President Obama's decision to give the right answer to the wrong question.

Tom the troubadour

May 09, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

I probably shouldn't be surprised if I learned that, when N. T. Wright isn't busy exegeting, episcopating or writing best-sellers, he throws 100-mph fast balls and makes award-winning beer. But for some reason I was a bit startled to find out that he's not only a Dylan fan but a pretty decent singer, too.

The Century wins some things

May 04, 2012 by Steve Thorngate

I'm afraid I fell down on the blog a little this week. My excuse: I spent most of the week at the annual convention held by the Associated Church Press, an association of religious publishers of which the Century is a member and for which I serve on the board. It was a good gathering: interesting keynotes, useful workshops, plentiful fellowship.

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Salt, light and introverted congregations

May 04, 2012 by James Sledge

For a variety of reasons, Christian faith in America tends to be a private and personal thing.  Faith is what we believe, and that can be safely tucked away in our brain somewhere.  In the faith understanding I grew up with, you can be a faithful Christian if you go to church on Sunday and abide by societal norms for morality.  So, in essence, if people don't check the church par

Closed

May 03, 2012 by Gail Irwin

It happened again today.  I drove up to one of my favorite cafes in a nearby town and was shocked to find it closed.  I don’t mean closed today.  I mean closed forever.  But they knew me there!  They knew I liked those vanilla creamers and my eggs poached hard!  I sat with the engine running, hungry and caffeine-deprived, wondering where I would go for breakfast.  Why didn’t they warn me?  I would have come by to say good-bye.

Nothing in my hands I bring

May 02, 2012 by Diane Roth

I went to the hospital the other day. For some reason, I like to have a prayer book with me when I go to the hospital, even though I rarely use it. It's not that I don't pray; I always pray. I just don't use the prayer book. But, it's sort of a security blanket for me. I got used to bringing it long ago, when I was in seminary.

It's good enough

May 01, 2012 by Theresa Cho

I always wanted to be a mother. But becoming a mother was not an easy road for me. Although I was healthy and young, it took a good three years to get pregnant with my first son. After months and months of testing, praying and wasted pregnancy tests, I had to ask myself, how bad do I want to be a mother? How many dollars am I willing to spend? How much am I willing to put my body through?

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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

Organizing for communion

Ministry in the 21st century

Mar 14, 2012 | An interview with Isaac S. Villegas

“I like to think I’m a grassroots organizer," says Isaac S. Villegas of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship. "I rearrange pews; I find people to make sloppy joes for hungry people.”
Features

Faithful reinvention

Ministry in the 21st century

Feb 15, 2012 | An interview with Scott Kershner

"Religious commitments are no longer taken for granted as part of North American people's lives," says Scott Kershner of Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center in Washington State. "So space opens up to ask very basic and interesting questions."
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