Church
Gathering for good
On a Copenhagen street, emergency responders and passersby formed a spontaneous community.
Missed opportunities at the UMC general conference
We took some good steps. But we are too afraid to name certain truths.
Religiously fluid
Like a lot of Christian millennials, I don’t need Christianity to be everything for me.
My son the PK said no to baptism
For now, anyway. After our discernment together, I consider this a success.
Latino churches are social service hubs
Yet their extensive efforts go largely unseen outside their communities.
How might God bless a divided America?
On a recent trip to the US, I went to church—and found myself pondering three liturgical moments.
What comes after clergy self-care?
I didn’t need more candles or journaling. I needed solidarity with others.
Ministry and other difficult jobs
Pastors face intense challenges—though not necessarily unique ones.
Why I came back to the lectionary
My job as a preacher isn’t to change the game. It’s to run the plays well.
Bearing the scars
Years ago, at a barbecue in Argentina, I realized I was the only person present who wasn’t a survivor of torture.
In praise of church musicians
Great leaders of congregational song attend to the new community formed every time a church gathers.
Can inclusive churches grow and thrive?
When my spouse’s church became more affirming, the major givers left.
William Guthrie’s weird Christianity
The rector of St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery brought the church into relationship with the Greenwich Village avant-garde of the 1920s.
Showing up for church when I don’t want to
When I show up, God shows up—although not always in the sermon.
Pentecostals laboring in the field
Lloyd Barba shows how Mexican farmworkers established a viable life in the face of California’s industrial agriculture machine.
Social gospel heroes?
Janine Drake identifies ulterior motives in the church’s collaboration with labor in the early 20th century.