Features
How Dove’s Nest trains churches to keep children safe
How my daughter’s speech delay has changed my preaching
Tastes of God’s kingdom at our church’s community meal
The witness of Eugene Peterson
Books
Two new (very different) Old Testament translations
Is it man or humanity? Ark or chest?
Why don’t the Gospels describe Jesus’ appearance?
Joan Taylor's top-notch scholarship reads like a detective thriller.
An economist’s call for a politics of global solidarity
Daniel Cohen asks: When our culture of growth collapses, what will society look like?
Is our democracy doomed to become more and more exclusionary?
Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens offer a discouraging diagnosis—and some specific remedies.
How I got schooled by Franchesca Ramsey’s hilarious memoir
Ramsey shows the high stakes (and common mistakes) of online activism.
Departments
Throngs of the Redeemed, in Lagos and beyond
The Works of Mercy; The Works of War, by Rita Corbin
Fumbling my way into contemplative prayer
The caravan is an exodus
Eugene Peterson: Pastor, poet, and friend
News
Aid agencies denied travel to North Korea, blocking humanitarian relief
Faith-based groups have spent years building relationships in North Korea with efforts such as improving farming or providing health care. Now the U.S. State Department has a visa embargo.
Palestinian candidate in East Jerusalem defies voting boycott
Ramadan Dabash sought to be the first East Jerusalem resident to serve on the city council since 1967.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting strikes at vibrant Jewish community
The neighborhood’s unity has been evident in the wake of the murders during sabbath services.
David Boase, Episcopal priest, fights deporation order
Boase, who is English, mistakenly voted once after a driver’s licensing employee offered him a registration form.
South Sudan faith leaders pray for peace agreement
The latest treaty is the second attempt for South Sudan to find peace after it became independent from Sudan in 2011.
Richard Green serves as interim president of United Lutheran Seminary
“My leadership style is inclusive,” said Green, a lifelong Lutheran.
Dead Sea Scroll fragments at Museum of the Bible found to be forged
Close to 70 items that have come on the market since 2002 as Dead Sea Scroll fragments appear to be suspect, one scholar said.
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message and pastor to pastors, dies at age 85
“I’ve loved being a pastor, almost every minute of it,” Peterson once told the Century.
Lectionary
December 23, Advent 4C (Luke 1:39-55)
