Voices
Julian DeShazier
The great man theory is poison for the church
The problem isn’t just that it exists. It’s that so many ministers fall for it.
Yolanda Pierce
Phoning home
God, like an attuned parent, hears not just the words we say but also the hidden parts of our hearts.
Philip Jenkins
Praying the hours with W. H. Auden
The poet’s Horae Canonicae sequence is an underappreciated spiritual classic.
Alejandra Oliva
Feeling God in a modernist cathedral-in-progress
While other churches have filled me with wonder, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia brought tears to my eyes.
Samuel Wells
What does it mean to be an inclusive church?
Being a community means welcoming those with diverse views, not cocooning oneself with like-minded people.
Jonathan Tran
What does ‘Christian nationalism’ even mean?
Could it really be all the different things people say it is?
Rachel Mann
Facing a world on fire
The contemplative life is about getting closer to reality, not retreating from it.
Brian Bantum
What’s special about a church building?
How many buildings do we pass by in our daily lives where we could simply walk in, sit down, and participate?
Melissa Florer-Bixler
A pulpit without a context
I asked ChatGPT for a sermon. What it wrote seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
Debie Thomas
Too much mystery?
Leaving evangelicalism allowed me to embrace the mystery of faith. I wonder if I’ve taken it too far.
Philip Jenkins
How empires spread religion
A global map of Christianity is stalked by imperial ghosts.
Heidi Neumark
The wilderness of a rural ministry circuit
I’m now a half-time “missional coach” to a six-church parish. I have many questions.
Isaac S. Villegas
Tear gas over the soccer field
“You’re welcome to take it back home with you,” my Palestinian friend said as I looked at the US-made canister in my hand. “Actually, take all of them.”
Isaac S. Villegas
Speaking in two tongues
Growing up bilingual primed me to see the gifts offered at Babel and Pentecost.
Julian DeShazier
Religiously fluid
Like a lot of Christian millennials, I don’t need Christianity to be everything for me.
Melissa Florer-Bixler
My son the PK said no to baptism
For now, anyway. After our discernment together, I consider this a success.
Jonathan Tran
One person’s self-made hell
Recently I attended the trial of a woman accused of killing a college student in a hit and run.
Alejandra Oliva
Movement of the soul
Justin Peck’s choreography takes the language of ballet and turns it into something more.
Samuel Wells
How might God bless a divided America?
On a recent trip to the US, I went to church—and found myself pondering three liturgical moments.
Debie Thomas
A deeper legacy than hard work
The psalms of ascent press hard against the norms of our bootstrap culture.