Features
When stagnant waters become fresh
The dams on the Klamath River are coming down. Their removal reflects a very different theology than their construction.
Worshiping at the church of Taylor
The goodness of a Taylor Swift show points to our need for a deeper goodness.
Mushrooms at the table?
People have long tried to trace a connection between the early church’s eucharistic practice and psychedelic substances. Scholars aren’t convinced.
Neutrality or solidarity?
In Ukraine, faith-based humanitarian workers face a fundamental question about the nature of their work.
A poet converted by her own writing
Denise Levertov’s intuitive grasp of incarnation drove her politics, her poetry, and eventually her religious discernment.
My land acknowledgment
My family owns a residential plot in suburban Chicago. I decided to find out what used to be there.
God’s first worst enemy
Before Satan, there was the biblical sea monster Leviathan.
A theology of ghosts
My sister talks to our dead mother. I am happy they both stand in the presence of love.
Horror movie mom
When I watch a mother slay a monster and hustle her kids to safety, it never fails to satisfy.
The exploding sky
As a teenager in Hawaii, I watched a nearby test of a nuclear weapon. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.
The wisdom of folk horror
Around the world, filmmakers have used a horror framework to explore the fears and nightmares of their societies.
The monsters we fear
Religion and horror often ask us to reflect on the same set of questions.
Soul-altering substances
What implications does the psychedelic renaissance have for faith and spirituality?
The pedagogy of Ancient Aliens
Why I teach ancient astronaut theory as part of Intro to Religion
A better response to the decline of the Christian West
Some fight to preserve what is fading. Michel de Certeau shows how this is an enormous theological error.
Honoring the mothers of environmental justice
Dollie Burwell and Hazel Johnson have been under-recognized in environmental studies—and relegated to mere footnotes in church history.
Anorexia in the communion line
As I stealthily slipped the body of Christ into my pocket, I prayed that no one was watching.
Prayers rising past the immanent frame
Charles Taylor helps me understand my church’s architecture—and my own struggles with faith.
AJ Muste’s Christian nonviolence
Once a household name among progressives, the activist and minister influenced generations that followed.
My UCC church’s listening experiment with our evangelical neighbors
I hoped our shared faith would provide enough common ground. I was a bit naive.