Morning companions

by Samuel Wells

When I open the sanctuary doors in the morning, I see the face of Christ in the shadow side of the welfare state.

Sacrament of friendship

by Valerie Weaver-Zercher

Amy Andrews and Jessica Mesman Griffith render things – a graveyard walk, a dream about an elevator, a Neil Young song – into something else entirely.

Jane Austen in California

by Beth Felker Jones

Diehards may not like Lizzie Bennet Diaries' changes to Austen. But the fun lies in considering the choices involved in cultural translation.

Interfaith marriage: A reality check

by William H. Willimon

Forty-two percent of U.S. marriages are interfaith. Naomi Schaefer-Riley convinced me that this is one of the biggest stories in religious life.

Morning companions

Sacrament of friendship

Jane Austen in California

Interfaith marriage: A reality check

What would Christopher Foyle do?

May 23, 2013 by David Heim

I’ve seen a bumper sticker that says, “What would Atticus do?”—a tribute to Atticus Finch, the saintly lawyer in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Having finished watching (via Netflix) six seasons of the BBC TV series Foyle’s War, I’m ready to slap on a  “What would Christopher Foyle do?” sticker.

Wednesday digest

May 22, 2013

New today from the Century: Sam Wells on the people who sleep outside his church, Dennis O'Brien reviews A. C. Grayling, more.

Cooking from scratch

From my commencement address to the 2013 graduates of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

May 22, 2013 by Carol Howard Merritt

Frozen lasagna is also a pretty good metaphor for how church has been working for many communities.

Evangelicals and the redemptive symmetry of immigration reform

May 22, 2013 by Randall Balmer

The scene at the Church of the Reformation several weeks ago—just a couple blocks from the U. S. Capitol—was a mixture of resolve and celebration, equal parts political rally and family reunion. People milled about on the front steps posing for photographs, greeting old friends and making new acquaintances.

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Cooking from scratch

From my commencement address to the 2013 graduates of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

May 22, 2013 by Carol Howard Merritt

Frozen lasagna is also a pretty good metaphor for how church has been working for many communities.

The hospice pastor with a church on life support

How can we move beyond our walls when our congregations need so much care?

May 20, 2013 by Carol Howard Merritt

"I feel like a Hospice nurse," I sighed as I set down my bags. I had so many funerals in my small congregation that I had little time for anything other than caring for the dying. 

The formation of a domestic goddess

Giving up our control issues

May 13, 2013 by Carol Howard Merritt

It was a tiny control issue that happened in one corner of a fellowship hall. But now, in your mind, multiply this minor discomfort by a thousand.

David H. Jensen: God, Desire, and a Theology of Human Sexuality

May 09, 2013 by Carol Howard Merritt

I talked with David Jensen, Professor of Reformed Theology at Austin Seminary, about his new book, God, Desire, and a Theology of Human Sexuality.  

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One upside of everybody constantly filming everything with their glasses

May 22, 2013 by Steve Thorngate

Years ago I was at a friend’s wedding. As the happy couple left the church and we all threw birdseed or blew bubbles or whatever, a family member I didn’t know scolded me for taking a spot with a decent view—apparently I was blocking the videographer’s shot.

M.Divs. without collars

May 21, 2013 by Steve Thorngate

I enjoyed Michelle Boorstein's piece of reporting on M. Div. students who aren't headed for parish ministry. She details how some seminarians seek to be ministers of a sort as part of their calling to other vocations; she also touches on the challenges of post-Christendom pastoring and the need for more flexible and affordable paths through seminary.

(Re)writing songs for Pentecost

May 17, 2013 by Steve Thorngate

Somewhere in my queue of non-time-sensitive articles to write—yes, it’s been there a while—is one on the history and practice of making theologically significant changes to traditional American songs. Not just line-level edits like neutering/diversifying gendered language or using “love” in place of “wrath.” I mean re-imagining songs in a thoroughgoing way, while also preserving much of the existing imagery and language patterns. (I posted some time ago about one historical example.)

I write songs and play traditional music, but I haven’t actually tried this approach myself.

Other people saying things

May 17, 2013 by Steve Thorngate

“People who are experiencing homelessness are people. They are not extras in a movie about you.”

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When bad theology happens to good people

May 21, 2013 by MaryAnn McKibben Dana

This is almost unfathomable.

I lived in Tornado Alley during my teenage years, but they were quiet years for tornadoes. Honestly, I never took them seriously. Teenagers are invincible, after all. Whenever the subject came up we’d make jokes about trailer parks. It was classist privilege—I know that now, wrapped in a candy coating of “it couldn’t happen to me.”

It could.

Faith formation

May 17, 2013 by Diane Roth

Not long ago I went to visit a woman who had just entered hospice care. I've known her family for several years. I used to visit her with her husband and give them communion pretty regularly.

The divine protest of Pentecost

May 16, 2013 by David Henson

The God of Pentecost doesn’t have an official language.

This is the shocking revelation of the day of Pentecost, but one often  lost amid the day’s more bombastic metaphors of rushing winds, descending doves and intoxicated disciples with tongues touched by fire.

The church as blueberry pancake

May 14, 2013 by John Vest

It was either Rocky Supinger or Greg Bolt that turned me on to marketing guru Seth Godin. I subscribed to his blog and read it with interest. I often find in his posts compelling connections or challenges for the church. I’ve considered writing posts that tease out these connections, so here’s a first attempt.

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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

Urban experiments

Ministry in the 21st century

Jan 11, 2013 | An interview with Nanette Sawyer

"I've been given an opportunity to color outside the lines," says Nanette Sawyer of Grace Commons and St James Presbyterian Church in Chicago, "the permission and charge to be creative and experimental."
Features

Fusing justice and holiness

Ministry in the 21st century

Nov 29, 2012 | An interview with Dennis Sanders

"Progressive Christians do a good job with issues like LGBT rights," says Dennis Sanders of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Minneapolis. "But we're less good at helping people become disciples of Jesus."
Features

Training in Jesus’ way

Ministry in the 21st century

Aug 14, 2012  | An interview with Todd Friesen

"Jesus calls us to make disciples, not just converts," says Todd Friesen of Lombard Mennonite Church in Illinois. "I believe that discipleship begins in communal worship."
Features

A foundation for relationships

Ministry in the 21st century

Jun 13, 2012 | An interview with Joyce Shin

"More than ever, people are building interfaith marriages," says Joyce Shin of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. "Too often, religion is seen as an impediment to this instead of as a resource."
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."
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