Recent Articles
April 28, 2020
A Virginia Pastor Believed ‘God Can Heal Everything.’ Then He Caught Coronavirus. (Washington Post) Chicago Area Catholic Church Offering Socially Distant Confessions (WBBM) Electricity Consumption Up for Pizza and Liquor Stores, Down for Dry Cleaning and Religion (PV...
Interfaith Efforts Can Help Break Down ‘Religious Distancing’
While social distancing is helping us respond to the COVID-19 crisis, ‘religious distancing’ causes individuals and communities of faith to respond to fear and anxiety toward the ‘religious other’ by isolating themselves from them.
U:21 | What This Pandemic Can Teach You About Prison Reform
The U.S. criminal justice system is corrupted in more ways than we can count. Prisons and jails are unnecessarily populated. Prisoners held for longer than their sentences. And it all creates a breeding ground for COVID-19.
7 Things Your Church Can Learn During This Global Pandemic
Often perceived as the most resistant to change, churches have been putting into place new skills and practices as they respond to ‘shelter in place’ guidelines. After the COVID-19 crisis passes, here are 7 lessons we can take away.
April 27, 2020
For Hospital Chaplains, Coronavirus Has Shifted Political Care (US News & World Report) Some of the Most Visible Christians in America are Failing the Coronavirus Test (The Atlantic) Louisiana Pastor, While on House Arrest, Again Defies Coronavirus with Church...
Being a Good Interfaith Neighbor During the Age of COVID-19
Neighboring is one of the basic tenants of the Abrahamic faiths. Each of our holy texts – Christian, Jewish and Muslim – speak of being good neighbors. Isn’t it a shame it takes a pandemic to get to know our neighbors?
Who Needs Theologians During Global Coronavirus Crisis?
Is there a place for theological studies during this global pandemic? Now more than ever, we need pastoral theologians who can help us reflect upon and wrestle with all the existential questions that arise.
Most Americans Unaware of ‘Deplorable’ Doctrine of Discovery
It’s called the Doctrine of Discovery, and it dates back to 1452. You may not have heard about it, but it’s a deplorable creed, which was used to oppress people, including Native Americans in the US.
April 24, 2020
Churches Should Not be the First to Reopen (Christianity Today) New York Churches Working on Reopening Plans, Procedures (WKTV) COVID-19: New Poll Reveals Almost Two-Thirds of Churches See Drop in Giving (RNS) Black Baptists Say Coronavirus Exposes Preexisting...
Hopeful Images
Since the COVID-19 pandemic sent us all home, Faculty and staff at Campbell University Divinity School have been posting "Words of Encouragement" to our students and others twice a week. For this week, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of the students'...
Manifest Destiny Fuels Misguided Protests to Reopen Economy
Protestors are demanding state legislators reopen the economy. It’s textbook Manifest Destiny. A belief they have a divine right for others to submit to their demands. Faith in God is about serving, not privilege and entitlement.
A Kind Nun’s Compassion Led to Imam’s Interfaith Journey
The compassion of a Christian nun showed me the importance of kindness across faiths. Without interfaith relationships and dialogue, we cannot as a society hope to attain justice, peace and the common good of all.
What’s Causing Racial Disparity Among COVID-19 Deaths?
Preliminary numbers reveal African Americans are suffering a disproportionate amount of coronavirus deaths compared to other racial groups. What’s the cause of this disparity? There may be three reasons.
February 23, 2020
Coronavirus: UN Warns World Risks Biblical ‘Famines’ Due to Pandemic (BBC) The Far Right Hates Liberals, Government and the Media – and Now, Quarantines (Washington Post) In These States Pandemic Crisis Response Includes Attempt to Stop Abortions (Washington Post) FBI...
Amid Global Pandemic, Religious Pluralism Flourishes
During this strange and often bleak time of global pandemic, watching religion flourish in all its beautiful array of diverse expressions has been one of the bright spots as people of faith respond with social solidarity.
How One Baptist Church Going Solar Affected Their Community
After their first year of using solar panels, a Virginia Baptist church achieved a 43% reduction in annual energy costs, encouraging other nearby community groups to begin discussions on how solar energy can benefit them.
Remembering the Life of Sir John Houghton (1931-2020)
Keenly interested in the dialogue between science and faith, Sir John Houghton, the world-famous climate scientist, committed evangelical Christian and Baptist lay preacher, died on April 15, 2020.
April 22, 2020
Christian Groups that Resist Public Health Guidelines are Forgetting a Key Part of the Religion’s History (TIME) Louisville Church Reaches Settlement With Mayor, Will be Allowed to Continue Drive-in Services (WDRB) Pastor Facing Arrest Warrant for Allegedly Backing...
How Interfaith Partnerships Can Enrich Your Own Life
Interfaith partnership is a two-way street. Not only can you empower others in a common cause by being a good ally, they can open your eyes and heart to truths of their own beliefs and practices you might otherwise miss.
4 Ways Your Church Can Begin to Care for God’s Creation
Christians must reflect on how to be more caring to God’s creation. So how can churches gather without causing further damage to God’s world? Here are four ways your church should seriously consider.
Pandemic Grief | Providing Help When the World is Crumbling
Being the church when the world is crumbling requires providing help taking care of bodies – and hearts. The church has the responsibility to claim these concerns as our own when the world is crumbling.
April 21, 2020
How Abortions, Guns and Church Closings Made Coronavirus a Culture War (New York Times) Churches: Don’t Get Too Comfortable Online (Christianity Today) Prepare Now for Post-Pandemic Ministry, Church Professionals Urge (Crux) How a Rally for the Right in...
Why Interfaith Cooperation Matters During Coronavirus Crisis
Christians and churches cannot meet all the needs caused by the coronavirus pandemic on our own. We must join with those who practice other religious ways, or no religion at all, as we collectively face this global disaster.
COVID-19 Linked to Our ‘Dreadful’ Treatment of Environment
Because of COVID-19, climate change is largely off the agenda, even in nations previously showing some progress, but there is a growing recognition that the pandemic itself is a result of our dreadful treatment of the environment.
Quelling Your Noisy Heart During the Coronavirus Storm
Until you deal with the noise and darker emotions in your inner self, you will be less able to care for others affected by the coronavirus. You have an ethical responsibility not to wound others with unexamined, untended emotions.
April 20, 2020
A Monastery in Ukraine Once Scoffed at Coronavirus Measures. Now it is a Hot Spot. (Washington Post) Orthodox Christians Observe Easter Amid Crackdowns on Rogue Priests and Congregants (NPR) Orthodox Christians Mark Near-Empty Easter in Jerusalem (AlJazeera)...
Pandemic pondering
If the global COVID-19 pandemic hasn't accomplished anything else, it has given us something new to think about, often ad infinitum. Out of the overflow, I share a few miscellaneous ponderings in case anyone's bored enough to read them and commiserate: The news cycle...
A Personal Reflection on the Oklahoma City Bombing
After the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, media launched unrelenting coverage against the Muslim community, even after white Christian nationalists were ID’d as the culprits.
Pandemic Grief | Identifying Priorities When the World is Crumbling
Being the church when the world is crumbling requires identifying priorities. The church must identify priorities in order to adapt amid a crisis, whether that crisis be internal to the church system or in the community.
Make it shareable, please
By John D. Pierce We seek to be relevant, insightful, honest and hopeful with each issue of Nurturing Faith Journal. Some find reading it informative and inspiring enough they want to share it with others. So we made subscriptions — including gift subscriptions — as...