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April 22, 2020

Volume 137, Issue #9

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Features

First Person

A confession to you, my nursing daughter

What am I to make of your singular desire for milk?

by Natalie Carnes

First Person

Potawatomi women are water protectors

I'm standing by Lake Michigan for the first time, but it already knows me.

by Kaitlin B. Curtice

A congregation that spans the US-Mexico border

For more than a decade, Christians have worshiped together across the border wall.

by Amy Frykholm

First Person

How I learned to love worshiping via video call

I'm immunocompromised. My ability to attend worship has long been determined by the CDC.

by Kay Lynn Northcutt

First Person

Navigating the immigration labyrinth with two pastors facing deportation

We gathered in an ICE parking lot. Not to protest, but to show that we cared.

by Julia Lambert Fogg

Opinion

The coronavirus pandemic is exposing the myth of self-reliance

The people we deem invisible are holding us together right now.

by Angela Denker

First Person

On not getting used to this

My spiritual practices have long been communal ones. I love people—and their presence.

by Melissa Florer-Bixler

Four guidelines for improvising pastoral leadership through a pandemic

How do ministers lead in unnavigated territory? How do we hold out hope in the face of despair?

by Eileen R. Campbell-Reed

Voices

Kathryn Reklis

Watching The Circle and Love Is Blind while practicing social distancing

Two reality TV shows remind us why physical connection matters.

Debie Thomas

Why do we prefer faded scars to open wounds?

Maybe Christianity’s best appeal is its courage in the face of all that wounds, rips, and ravages.

Books

Reason and revelation meet—even in Aquinas

Denys Turner’s essays bridge the gaps that often frustrate us when we read medieval theology.

by Kyle Rader

A memoir of hardship and gratitude in Appalachia

Cassie Chambers tells family stories and considers the history of the people of Owsley County, Kentucky.

by Diane Scharper

The misión integral of Protestant liberation theologians

Samuel Escobar, René Padilla, and other Latin American evangelicals—and how their activism was overshadowed

by Philip Jenkins

A guide to religious education during the climate crisis

For Jennifer Ayres, it’s crucial to name our ecological identity and responsibility.

by David A. Hoekema

Departments

Screen Time

Watching The Circle and Love Is Blind while practicing social distancing

Two reality TV shows remind us why physical connection matters.

by Kathryn Reklis

On Art

Treasure (A View of My House from Above), by Matthew Whitney

Matthew Whitney recounts four brief, daily practices from a spiritual teacher of his: chant, meditation, simple work, and simple activities. One simple activity the multidisciplinary artist practices—and practices and practices—is walking....

art selection and comment by Lil Copan

First Words

Looking for constancy when routines are disrupted

I’ve been thinking about a French horn teacher I once had.

by Peter W. Marty

Faith Matters

Why do we prefer faded scars to open wounds?

Maybe Christianity’s best appeal is its courage in the face of all that wounds, rips, and ravages.

by Debie Thomas

From the Editors

10 years into the Affordable Care Act, a pandemic exposes its limits

The ACA never attempted the kind of structural reform our health-care system needs.

News

A tale of two cities: why social distancing works

In 1918, the city of Philadelphia threw a parade that killed thousands of people....

by Michael J. Coren

Churches go back to the future with drive-in worship services

When it came time to pass the peace at Pathway Baptist Church, senior pastor Mike Donald didn’t hesitate. “Everybody, wave to the right,” Donald said....

by Emily McFarlan Miller

‘Deadly as Dachau’: Activists call for mass decarceration during COVID-19 pandemic

If any locals still braving the streets walked past Boston’s John F. Kennedy Federal Building at the end of March, they may have found themselves staring at a huge black-and-white image of Anne Frank’s face....

by Aysha Khan

Washington National Cathedral donates 5,000 medical masks found underground

The Washington National Cathedral donated thousands of medical masks to two hospitals in the nation’s capital after discovering a trove of the much-needed protective equipment just feet from where Helen Keller and other prominent Americans lie in ...

by Paul O'Donnell

US Catholic institutions struggle to keep up with changing demographics

Hispanics now account for 40 percent of all US Catholics, and a solid majority of school-age Catholics....

by David Crary

New children’s book highlights ‘Father of Gospel Music’

Disbelief is often the response Carole Boston Weatherford gets from children about her books featuring notable African Americans....

by Jim Patterson

People

Joseph E. Lowery, civil rights leader, dies at 98

Joseph E. Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader who helped Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, died on March 28. He was 98....

by Errin Haines

People

Marketing exec Deborah Caldwell to lead Religion News Foundation

In a unanimous vote, the Religion News Foundation’s board of directors has appointed marketing executive Deborah Caldwell as its CEO. In her new position, Caldwell will also be the publisher of Religion News Service....