Church
The surprising freedom of being a guest preacher
I might or might not be invited back. Either way, there’s no lasting harm.
Willie Jennings’s plea to create a new kind of theologian
After Whiteness is urgent reading for any institution that purports to care about God and race.
I don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus
I experience God through the embodied community of faith—and I miss it.
When the best of times and the worst of times coincide
At St. Martin-in-the-Fields, we’re living through beautiful, nightmarish days.
Why my church is done singing David Haas’s songs
It’s not because we don’t believe in grace.
How I used Minecraft with my catechism group
Instead of memorizing Luther’s theology, the kids built churches that embodied it.
The shape of liturgy when everything is changing
Even stones are constantly being transformed.
Virtual worship has become the people’s work
Discovering the limits—and possibilities—of common prayer via Zoom
Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s history of the manly godly man
How American evangelicalism baptized male aggression
The pandemic calls for closed hymnals
Forgoing congregational singing as a spiritual discipline
Envisioning part-time clergy as a blessing rather than a sign of decline
Revitalizing lay leaders to bring congregations new life
Finding God outside the church walls
The Spirit is God’s wild card, played over and over again when old forms fail.
We need our screens right now. But what about later?
Ed Cyzewski’s prepandemic takedown of the digital formation of Christians is still surprisingly useful.
The white Christian nationalist scam
Journalists Katherine Stewart and Anne Nelson unveil the mechanisms behind the rise of a movement.
Iranian asylum seekers are finding hospitality in the Church of England
Saman’s parents disowned him. The church became a new sort of family.
Brazil’s massive replica of the Temple of Solomon
The Pentecostals of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus have a mighty vision.
Multigenerational rage, holy listening, and the unveiling of another way
A conversation between Parker Palmer, Stephen Lewis, Matthew Wesley Williams, and Dori Baker about the book Another Way
Why are so many white Christians suddenly standing up for racial justice?
It might help that our pews aren’t available to sit in and pray.
The Beyoncé Mass places black women’s stories at the center—and proclaims God’s love
The music gets people in the door. Yolanda Norton’s preaching might be what sticks to their bones.
The best judges of my theology are the littlest ones
The questions that plunge me into a cloud of unknowing most often come from my Sunday school students.