Latest Articles
The real story behind ‘Good King Wenceslas’
Think of it as the English-speaking world’s most popular day-after-Christmas carol....
December 24/25, Nativity of the Lord (Isaiah 9:2–7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11–14; Luke 2:1–20)
The God of exiles, refugees, and migrants still shines light amid today’s present darkness.
Christian Wiman’s feel-bad memoir
Zero at the Bone is extraordinary. Just don’t expect it to be delightful.
In the Hebrew Bible, love is complex
Song-Mi Suzie Park shows that ahav is dense, powerful, political, and divine.
December 24, Advent 4B (Luke 1:26–38)
The traditional annunciation story bothers me even more than the word handmaid.
John the avant-garde (John 1:6-8, 19-28)
John the Baptist had no chance at being ordinary—but he takes his outlier status to new heights all on his own.
Joyful life in Bethlehem
At a L’Arche community, I learned something about working and dreaming for peace.
A Job who’s read Job
Poet Michael Shewmaker imagines a suffering Christian in Kilgore, Texas, with three unhelpful friends.
Mary’s special child and mine
I probably shouldn’t treat my own son like he’s the Messiah. Imagine the pressure.
No longer Black or White?
Perhaps the neither/nor of Galatians 3 isn’t really about moving beyond specific identities.
Memoir of a pastor’s husband
Washed Ashore is, at its heart, about a man growing up while raising children.
December 17, Advent 3 (John 1:6–8, 19–28)
In the wilderness, trying to find joy can be like trying to make a fire with wet matches.
A rich woman who took the Magnificat seriously
Vida Dutton Scudder, an early 20th-century radical, points Christians to solidarity and martyrdom.
Methodist-sponsored airport exhibit spotlights Indigenous heritage
While traveling several years back, Chebon Kernell came across something interesting at Hartsfield-Jack...
Bishop Michael Curry recovering from surgery after falling, suffering a brain bleed
Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, fell while visiting Syracuse, New York, and suffered a brain bleed that required surgery, the denomination’s Office of Public Affairs said i...
My struggle with Mary
Can Jesus’ mother be redeemed from the church’s tendency to parcel her up into a patriarchal box and then label it “glory”?
The eerie call of John the Baptist
His followers realized there was no quick exit from the discomfort of his words.
The rituals we need
Religion scholar Molly Farneth shows how rituals—both civic and religious—change us and the societies we live in.
Are all Christians adopted?
Paul’s metaphor can be harmful to those of us who have experienced adoption—and the abandonment that is usually central to it.