Latest Articles
Cleophus Smith, a Memphis sanitation worker and minister, keeps up fight for rights
Smith is one of the surviving workers whose strike brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Tennessee in 1968.
Survey: Protestant pastors see increased church diversity
Pastors are more likely to say their churches are made up of multiple racial and ethnic groups than they were four years ago.
April 29, Easter 5B (Acts 8:26-40; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8)
We are divided. We do not abide each other well.
The formation of Martin Luther King Jr.
Motivated in part by the whitewashing of a radical legacy, Patrick Parr explores King's seminary years and the roots planted there.
What makes A Wrinkle in Time Christian?
Some white Christians have complained that Ava DuVernay’s film is not faithful to Madeleine L’Engle’s book. A lot of people of color, however, have been feeling this movie deeply.
The day I revealed to the other moms that I'm a bad Christian
Of all the things I could have gone donkey nuts over, it was "quiet time" that pushed me over the edge.
Biblical hospitality
Joshua Jipp's book does something few biblical scholars attempt: it offers explicit proposals for the church.
Showing the world our wounds (Acts 4:32-35; John 20:19-31)
Some people say they don’t identify as Christian because of what they see, or don’t see, in the church.
Learning to embrace the in-between time
Good Friday gives way to Easter. We live our lives on Holy Saturday.
The disciples and Peter (Mark 16:1-8)
There is a chasm between Peter and Jesus that cannot be glossed over.
Turkey displays a new level of religious nationalism in Syria campaign
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has likened Turkey's army to Ottoman troops in WWI, calling them martyrs fighting for their religion.
Are we sure we’re right?
When we fall in love with our own moral positions, we lose sight of how to stand up against evil.
The work of reconstruction, 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr.
Of the many absurdities around race and hatred that still exist in our culture, Trump may be the least of them.
Between the world and Ta-Nehisi Coates
How did an Afro-pessimist who doesn't believe in hope become the darling of white liberals?
Peter’s denial and our judgment (John 18:1-19:42)
Peter doesn’t want to suffer. Who does?
Megachurch founder Bill Hybels denies reports of sexual misconduct
Church elders and an outside firm investigated and cleared Hybels. But recently several former employees went public with their accounts—and doubts about the investigations.
Catholic sisters and their difficult vocation
Alice McDermott ponders a mystery: How is it that women hear the calling and find the strength to love and support their neighbors?
A servant-leader’s strength (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)
The enduring significance of Jesus’ act in John 13 turns on the little preposition to.
Confessions of a (moderate) prude
I am finally old enough to admit something: the mysteries of adulthood, those "mature themes" we try to hide from the young, are mostly stupid.
Marielle Franco and the crucifixion of love
The Brazilian activist was killed by the same world that killed Jesus—a world that can’t bear love.