Recent Articles
Hit the Break!
To practice the spiritual discipline of solitude, we must challenge social norms that teach us to constantly feel urgency.
Reimagining Monopoly
The thread running through all these causes and effects of globalization is isolation. When our top priority is me and mine, we distance ourselves from others and God. But that is not how we are designed.
Baptist Women in Ministry: Nurturing Faith Interview with Meredith Stone
I think it is important to recognize how equating “calling” with “ministry occupations” has been informed by the assumptions embedded within the patriarchal privilege of clergy structures.
The Deadly Consequences of Hate
When will thoughtful and responsible citizens hold elected officials accountable for their inflammatory and hateful rhetoric? When will people of faith finally have enough of this hateful speech that leads to death?
The Enduring Legacy of Women in Campus Ministry
These women were not interlopers. They worked for state conventions across the South or were hired at higher education institutions. They applied, were voted on, and served with all of the support and financial equity of their male colleagues.
Parliament of the World’s Religions Kicks Off “The Year of Democracy”
The Parliament of the World’s Religions (PWR) will host “The Year of Democracy,” an election-year kickoff event today from 12:00-1:30 pm (CST).
February 22, 2024
US Supreme Court Declines to Decide Legality of Excluding Jurors Based on Religion; Southern Baptists to Launch New Org to Oversee Abuse Database; Christian Nationalist Second Trump Term Plans: Bring Back the Seventeenth Century! (and more)
Stoking the College Revival Fires
Christian revivalism isn’t unique to the United States, but like barbecue and blue jeans, we have placed our unique spin on it and claimed it as our own.
Preaching Politics During an Election Year
Navigating the polarization of these Divided States of America at any time is a challenge to ministers and faith leaders. However, during an election year, the air in a sanctuary gets as thin as a Colorado mountain range.
Americans Believe Diversity Strengthens Nation, But Split on Workplace DEI Initiatives
A Marist poll conducted last month found that over a quarter of registered Republican voters in the United States believe the country’s diversity makes it weaker.
February 21, 2024
Alabama Supreme Court Rules Embryos are ‘Children’ by Citing Bible Passages; Alabama’s ‘Frozen Embryos are Children’ Ruling to Go After Abortion; Historic 16th Street Baptist Church Starts $7.5 Million Fundraising Campaign (and more)
Poster Child
I never set out to be the poster child for non-sex sex scandals of women pastors, just like I didn’t want to be the one whose story became so publicly tied to so many controversial issues in the church.
New Good Faith Media Podcast Highlights ‘Doctrine of Christian Discovery’
A new podcast from Good Faith Media highlights a little-known—but significant—Christian doctrine.
A New Report Says That Measuring Identity Is an Art and a Science
A new report from the Pew Research Center says that measuring identity is an art and a science.
February 20, 2024
What Does it Mean to Claim the US is a Christian Nation, and What Does the Constitution Say?; 3 Days With God’s Army: Inside the Trucker Convoy that Failed to Save the Border; Iowa’s Decline is Accelerating. So is the Erosion of its Divide Between Church and State. (and more)
Give Up Keeping Up Appearances for Lent
It will cost us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. So, we might want to take a step back to reconsider because self-mortification is not pretty.
By the Way | What Happened to My Father’s Evangelicalism?
There’s no way to know these many years after his death, but my father, I suspect, would be uneasy about the direction of contemporary evangelicalism.
Invested Faith Receives Gift From Ferguson, Missouri Church
St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, an open and affirming faith community in Fergusson, Missouri, has recently gifted Invested Faith $200,000 to bolster their work with faith-rooted social entrepreneurs.
February 19, 2024
A Year After Jimmy Carter Entered Hospice Care, Advocates Hope His Endurance Drives Awareness; GOP Candidates Elevate Anti-Transgender Messaging as a Rallying Call to Christian Conservatives; Ross Douthat: What the News and Pews Have in Common (and more)
It’s All About You and Not At All About You
You are completely and utterly lost, and that is when you realize it is all right, because lost is a place too.
New Christian Children’s Book Celebrates Social Gospel Jesus and the Easter Story Through a Social Gospel Lens
Raushenbush has teamed up with production designer Tim Gilman and illustrator Jin Xia to bring the project to fruition with the publication of “Together We Rise: An Easter Story for All of Us.”
Democrats Are Losing Ground With Two Key Demographics
A new Gallup report finds Democrats are losing ground with African Americans and Hispanics.
Giving Up Lent for Lent: We All Need a Good Rest
We have gone through a lot over the last four years and are facing an even greater danger in the future. So maybe, just maybe, we need to take a breath and close our eyes before the real craziness begins.
Who’s Side Is Winning in American Politics?
Most U.S. adults say their side has been losing when it comes to the issues that matter to them, according to a Pew Research Center report released on February 12.
Cultural Humility During the Other Eleven Months
I love that there is a month set aside to embrace my culture, one where I feel appreciated and valued. In September, there are many celebrations that take place in communities, at schools and even churches for Hispanic Heritage Month. But now that we are a few months...
February 15, 2023
The A.I. Economy Makes Our Humanity More Important Than Ever; Tyson Rejects Shareholder Call for Audit into Child Labor Allegations; American Baptist College Educated John Lewis, CT Vivian and Others (and more)
Losing Control for Lent
Might I suggest that we give up something more transformative, that is our will to self- govern and to direct the affairs of others? Let’s give up control for Lent.
Did You Put a (Promise) Ring on It?: The Long-Lasting Effects of Purity Culture
On its surface, the motivation of purity culture isn’t terrible. Reduce the number of divorces and prevent teenage pregnancies- what could be so bad about that?
Roses in the Ashes
This coincidence of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day is no coincidence in their lives. It is a daily lived experience.
February 14, 2024
Examining Houston’s Gospel Music History; For Black ‘Nones’ Who Leave Religion, What’s Next?; Walter Brueggemann’s Theological Biography Offers Many Surprises (and more)