The Christian Century

The pastor and other sinners

by David J. Wood

To Eugene Peterson, a church is not a demarcated zone of idealized community. The potential for misdirection and distraction abounds.

Keeping the church weird

by Carol Howard Merritt

“These old buildings are well made and historic,” my real estate agent friend interjected. “Surely we can think of new uses for them.”

Money talks

Eroding campaign finance rules gives wealthy donors more power. It may also generate cynicism and political disengagement.

Thunderous yes

Preaching to the Easter crowds

by Matt Fitzgerald

Our guests know that resurrection defies logic. That is why they come sidling through our doors—every one of them comes hoping for it.

In the News

Security enhanced at Jewish centers nationwide

Apr 15, 2014 by Yamiche Alcindor

Hobby Lobby’s Steve Green launches a new project: a public school Bible curriculum

Apr 15, 2014 by David Van Biema

President Obama mourns Kansas tragedy: ‘We’re all children of God’

Apr 14, 2014 by Adelle M. Banks

Questions persist after testing of ‘Jesus Wife’ papyrus

Apr 10, 2014 by David Gibson

Is the Internet bad for religion?

Apr 10, 2014 by Kimberly Winston

Reflections on the Lectionary

Raising the dead, with and without hope

Apr 16, 2014 by Kelly J. Baker

As Easter approaches, raising the dead is at the forefront of my mind. But I think of a different vision of resurrected dead, zombies. The popular monsters reanimate as gruesome bodies; their essential natures, spirits, or souls are absent. Zombies are a reckoning of the horror of the dead coming back to life.

When Jesus offends just by being himself

Apr 16, 2014 by Steve Thorngate

Looks like Jesus the Homeless is coming to Chicago. Erica Demarest reports that the local Catholic Charities office plans to put up one of Timothy Schmalz's sculptures—which depict an unkempt Jesus, with stigmata, sleeping on a park bench—this spring.

Weekend Edition did a segment Sunday on the sculpture at St. Alban's Episcopal in Davidson, North Carolina. Apparently some locals aren't fans.

Should Easter be surprising?

John 20:1-18; Matthew 28:1-10

Apr 16, 2014 by David Keck

In my experience, Easter Sunday is a fairly scripted event. For weeks, the choir has been practicing special music, perhaps a cantata. Extra bulletins have been printed since there may be visitors to the church, those Christmas-and-Easter Christians we are always talking about. Additional worshipers means that preparing and serving communion will take longer. There may be a bit of exhaustion—Holy Week services have drawn us into the agonies of Jesus’ last days. Pastors may have bags packed, ready to head out for a few days after all the extra work.

Easter has been coming, and we’ve made sure to be ready.

The forgotten days of Holy Week

Apr 15, 2014 by Laura Kelly Fanucci

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. How easily we pass over them, eyes set eagerly on Easter Sunday. Or anticipating Thursday’s opening of the Triduum.

Our first half of Holy Week probably looks a lot like yours. Work. School. Kids. Meetings. Chores. Bills. The lackluster pregame show before the big kickoff. The forgettable prelude before the fanfare. The ordinary before the extraordinary.

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 1 comment Cultivating a holy imagination Ministry in the 21st century Jun 13, 2013 An interview with Lisa Yebuah "I eventually realized that leaders are not made by books or workshops," says Lisa Yebuah of Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Leaders are people who marry their knowledge to action."	Features 5 comments 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 2 comments 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 1 comment 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 2 comments 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 3 comments 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."

Cover Story

A time to split?

Covenant and schism in the UMC

Apr 03, 2014 by Amy Frykholm

Cover Story

Light without sight

A different way of seeing

Mar 24, 2014 by Barbara Brown Taylor

Features

Ways to be Lutheran

New churches experiment with polity

Apr 04, 2014 by Mark Granquist

Warning: The last shall be first

Gordon Cosby's final sermon

Mar 24, 2014 by Gordon Cosby, with Rebecca Stelle

Five comforts of monocultural church

Mar 20, 2014 by Amy Frykholm

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Features 1 comment Cultivating a holy imagination Ministry in the 21st century Jun 13, 2013 An interview with Lisa Yebuah "I eventually realized that leaders are not made by books or workshops," says Lisa Yebuah of Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Leaders are people who marry their knowledge to action."	Features 5 comments 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 2 comments 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 1 comment 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 2 comments 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 3 comments 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."