Recent Articles
Notes on Neurodivergence | “Becoming” in Christ
Being neurodivergent has given me a new definition of “sin.” My revised belief allows me to accept my entire identity and conditioned behaviors in society to survive. It’s complicated and not easy. For me, it means enduring the mystery, knowing God can and will show up anyway.
First Sunday of Lent | “Saying No in Order to Say Yes”
Luke 4:1-13 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil…” A few years ago, two friends who were priests serving at our neighborhood Catholic Church decided they would...
Calling All Prophets: Clear Your Heads and Hearts During Lent
As the world spins out of control during the Lenten season, I plan to prepare myself for the road ahead. The journey before us looks long and arduous, so we must be ready for all the hills and valleys that might stand in our way.
‘African Americans and Religious Freedom’ Aims to Get Readers on the Same Page Concerning Democracy
The second edition of “African Americans and Religious Freedom: New Perspectives for Congregations and Communities” was released on February 28.
Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, Study Finds
The Pew Research Center shares its Religious Landscape Study (RLS) and finds Christianity in the United States, which has been on a steady decline, is stabilizing. The percentage of those who identify as “religiously unaffiliated” has increased.
Vision Quest: What the Coyote and Fox Have to Say about Climate Action
Global warming, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity are the challenges of our lifetime. Are we cunning? Can we be swift in our decision-making? Are we willing to adjust and adapt? I pray that we will say yes!
When the Pulpit Empties: Preaching, Depression, and the God Who Remains
We stand in the pulpit filled with the Spirit, but when we step down, many of us descend into silence—into loneliness and exhaustion so deep it feels like falling into the abyss.
‘I Don’t Need Permission to Do Good Deeds’: A Justice-Loving Ukrainian Pastor Speaks Truth to Power
Gennadiy Mokhnenko is not a perfect man. He’s rough around the edges, a product of decades of geopolitical strife, cultural formation, and an internal disposition incapable of suffering fools lightly. But he is also a disciple of a justice-loving God who holds us all accountable–not for what we believe about Jesus or the ways we pray but for our actions when we are confronted with suffering and oppression.
Indigenous Wine: Dislodging Eurocentric Models That Lead to ‘Latinos for Trump’
When Latines seeking a liberative methodology rest upon Eurocentric philosophical and theological paradigms, they construct resistance on shifting sand, contributing to and continuing their own disenfranchisement.
Women’s History Month | Women are Central Characters, Not Footnotes in the Story of the Church
When we embrace the gifts and leadership of women, we are a step closer to realizing that vision—a church where all are valued, empowered and free to live out their God-given calling.
New Gallup Poll Finds the World Is Less Charitable
A new Gallup poll finds global philanthropy in significant decline. While a surge in charitable activities was noted in 2021 and 2023, last year, the numbers of people donating, volunteering and helping strangers were all down.
None of This is Pro-Life
Twenty years after the publication of “God’s Politics,” the politics of White Christian Nationalism has been largely responsible for producing a revenge-seeking president who has appointed a Hitler-saluting billionaire to upend the federal government in a fury of chaos that is creating a global firestorm of destruction.
Women’s History Month| Remembering Toni Morrison and ‘Cinderella’s Stepsisters’
Before I was bullied by a female employer, Toni Morrison taught me about the ugliness of women who oppress other women. There were, unironically, two other women employees and they considered themselves sisters. And as the “Cinderella” story goes, they watched me suffer her unrelenting cruelty and, at times, participated in it.
Prophetic Economics: When Publishing Becomes Ministry for Voices at the Margins
We admire those who speak truth to power without acknowledging that economic precarity is one of the most effective ways to silence dissent. Radical thinkers need radical support systems. That’s what authorpreneurship is all about.
“Legality, Legality” When There Is No Legality
How can we expect anyone to “obey immigration laws and process” when the United States, while wagging its crooked finger, is not obeying the international laws regarding asylum it established and agreed to?
Is America Inching Closer to the Axis of Evil?
This week, on the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the U.S. voted against a European resolution at the United Nations condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Later in the week, the U.S. presented a resolution calling for an end to the war without condemning Russia’s actions. Both resolutions passed, but a clear change in US policy towards the war has changed drastically. Russia, Israel, North Korea, Sudan, Belarus, Hungary and 11 other states joined the US in voting against the European resolution.
Evangelical Coalition Calls on Trump to Support West Bank Annexation
American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI) held a press conference on Tuesday night at the annual National Christian Broadcasters Convention to announce their “Resolution on Judea and Samaria.” The resolution reflects the Zionist belief that the modern Israeli state is inextricably tied to the ancient, Biblical nation of Israel and, therefore, that God’s promise of the land to the Israeli people in ancient scriptures is still in effect.
Baptists and the Ordinance of Dissent
Like communion and baptism, acts of dissent can be seen as a third ordinance for the people known as Baptists.
New PRRI National Survey Captures National Support for Christian Nationalism
The Public Religion Research Institute releases the results of a national survey measuring American support of white Christian nationalism.
Whatever Is Lovely: Finding Joy in the Mundane Relationships of ‘Linda Linda Linda’
Everyone has methods for dealing with stress and anxiety in their lives. For me, one of the best ways to cope is to watch something I love. Right now, that is the 2005 Japanese film “Linda Linda Linda,” directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita. I watched it about a week ago, and every time I think back on it, it makes me smile.
LGB Folks, Don’t be a Peter: Resist Divesting Trans Community
The removal of trans people from the Stonewall National Monument is a symptom of a much larger, more ancient problem. When oppressors attack the most marginalized in our community, you have a choice: you can risk yourself to protect the current target, or you can assimilate to the expression of life the oppressor deems worthy.
Americans View Canada, Japan and Great Britain Most Favorably
A recent Gallup survey taken between February 3-16 found Canada, Japan and Great Britain to be the countries with the highest favorability ratings among Americans. Canada received the highest ratings, with 89% of respondents identifying the northern neighbors as favorable. Japan and Great Britain came in at 86% and 84%, respectively.
Following the ‘Incredibly Human’ Jesus
Those of us trying to live a life faithfully modeled after Jesus, that wandering Jew from Palestine, often forget or willingly ignore his humanity and his humaneness. We aren’t alone in this struggle. The church has wrestled with understanding Jesus as both fully human and fully God since its earliest days.
The Limited, Beautiful and Necessary Tradition of Black History Month
I would love for the histories of Black individuals and communities to be infused all year long in all the settings where stories are being told and humans are being shaped. I would love to feel that people like me are as considered and as centered in education, media and religion as anyone with lighter skin and straighter hair. But I also know that two things can be true, especially when it comes to calendaring.
Pew Study Finds Americans Concerned About Money In Politics
According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, more Americans see money’s role in politics as a “big problem” (72%) than any other option they were given. Lagging behind it are issues such as the affordability of healthcare (67%), inflation (63%) and the federal deficit (57%).
Five Years After Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder: What Has Changed, What Hasn’t, and Who’s Still Fighting?
It’s been five years since Ahmaud Arbery was lynched in broad daylight. We saw the video. On February 23, 2020, Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was out for a run in the community of Satilla Shores, near Brunswick, Georgia. Three local white men indicted, convicted,...
Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Combats Erasure with Global Solidarity, Mounting a Movement of Ubuntu
The 21st Annual Clergy and Lay Leaders Conference hosted by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC) was held at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Arkansas on February 17-20. Combating erasure with global solidarity, SDPC is mounting a movement of ubuntu.
I Got Plastered and My Dad Tossed an Egg at Me
Take a deep breath. Feel your lungs grow. That requires muscle. The struggle to get out of the egg builds the chick’s strength. Without the struggle, it will lack the strength to breathe and will suffocate. Struggle serves to give the emerging being the strength to thrive.
Invested Faith, 2025 Invested Faith Fellows
Washington, DC: In less than 4 years, Invested Faith has awarded 67 Fellowships to faith-rooted social entrepreneurs and now announces Invested FaithFaith community, and the opportunity to join the Invested Faith RESOURCED program, a peer support network of Fellows...
Mercy Culture Pastor Triggered By Mercy
The Marianne Budde story became a microcosm of the many debates around immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and, most importantly, the relationship between church and state. For ministers of all stripes, the prayer service itself echoed the awkward discomfort they often feel at ceremonies that are part sacred, part secular, and designed in collaboration with others who have vastly different aims for the event.