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November 17, 2021

Volume 138, Issue #23
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Features

First Person

The five spiritual senses

Lessons from Maximus the Confessor and my dog

by Amy Frykholm

How My Mind Has Changed

Why I came back around to repentance

First I needed to meet a progressive, gracious God.

by Brittney Cooper

Interviews

Luke Timothy Johnson wants us to read Paul in all his complexity

“What advantage do we gain by possessing a Pauline theology that lies outside and above his writings?”

Nijay K. Gupta interviews Luke Timothy Johnson

First Person

At Tijuana shelter Casa del Migrante, every meal is holy

I take the morning shift to give the longer-term volunteers a few hours of rest.

by Isaac S. Villegas

Critical Essay

Created out of nothing means created out of love

To say creation is ex nihilo is to say that divine love is the only power at work in the creation of everything.

by Norman Wirzba

Books

Our social contract needs to be renewed

Economist Minouche Shafik puts public policy at the heart of her vision.

by Andrew W. Stevens

What would it take for #CurriculumSoWhite to stop trending?

According to Bree Picower, it starts with the teachers—80 percent of whom are White.

by Maggie Vandermeer

A truth-telling child of Southern Methodism

Journalist John Archibald turns the spotlight on himself, his preacher father, and White Christians’ failures.

by William H. Willimon

Sister Agatha roller-skates away from the church

The heroine of Claire Luchette’s novel realizes she became a nun to avoid being herself.

by Jessica Mesman

Departments

Brazil’s explosion of música gospel

As Protestants gain numbers, a sizable world of Christian music in many genres has emerged.

by Philip Jenkins

Faith Matters

Pure justice is an idol

Atop the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, Lady Justice presides over a long history of injustices.

by Samuel Wells

First Words

End-of-life decisions in the ICU

The Christian tradition has something to say about the ethics of extending life.

by Peter W. Marty

On Art

Bowl of Oranges, by Sayde Laine Anderson

“I  hope to cultivate space to think about who we are as nurturers of our relationships and of the land,” writes Sayde Laine Anderson on her website (saydelaine.com)....

art selection and comment by Lil Copan

From the Editors

Why do we teach history?

Behind the curriculum debates lurks a deeper question about what it means to form citizens.

News

Efforts to free missionaries in Haiti continue

Efforts to win the return of 17 members of a US-based missionary group and a local driver stretched on in late October, as a violent gang demanded $1 million ransom per person....

by Dánica Coto and Pierre-Richard Luxama

National Council of Churches elects all-female officers, approves NRSV update

The National Council of Churches has elected an all-female slate of officers for the first time in the ecumenical organization’s 71-year history....

by Adelle M. Banks

Geneva street renamed for Annie Jiagge

The city of Geneva plans to rename a street in honor of Annie Jiagge, the first African woman to serve as president of the World Council of Churches, which has its headquarters in the city....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

Hartford Seminary changes name to reflect focus on interreligious peacemaking

One of the nation’s oldest seminaries has changed its name and removed the word seminary in the process....

by Mark Wingfield

Retired UMC pastor and bishop’s spouse opens up about gender transition

Because she wants to be a witness to others on a similar journey, minister Mary Johnson is beginning to share the story of her gender transition and her choice to now live fully as the person she feels God created her to be....

by Melissa Lauber

Menlo Church investigation finds no direct evidence of sexual abuse

A third-party investigation at one of Northern California’s most prominent megachurches ended in October with a report that found no evidence the pastor’s adult child had acted on his confessed attraction to minors....

by Bob Smietana

Stolen angels returned to Italian church after three decades

A British art collector who bought a pair of 17th-century marble angels from a Neapolitan antiques shop two decades ago has returned the winged putti to Italy’s art police after learning that they had been stolen from a church....
People

Peace activist nun Megan Rice dies at 91

Megan Rice, a Catholic sister and peace activist who spent two years in federal prison after breaking into a government security complex to protest nuclear weapons, has died. She was 91....
People

Influential UMC bibliographer Kenneth Rowe dies at 84

Kenneth Rowe, a historian who was known as the leading United Methodist bibliographer, died on October 8. He was 84....

by Sam Hodges

People

Top Southern Baptist official resigns, cites sexual abuse review

Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee, announced his departure on October 14 in a statement critical of recent decisions related to the third-party sexual abuse review that is getting underway....

by Holly Meyer

Lectionary

December 5, Advent 2C (Luke 3:1-6)

To be wild is to be free, unbought and unbossed by the structures of power.

by Willie Dwayne Francois III

November 28, Advent 1C (Luke 21:25-36)

What if Jesus is snatching us out of our desire for another world?

by Willie Dwayne Francois III

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