Church
What I left out of my mother’s funeral sermon
I told the truth about her but not the whole truth.
Black men I’ve mourned
I’ve preached more than 800 funeral sermons. Many of these deaths have marked me.
Preaching in the valley of actual death
My task at funerals is to share the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Reckoning with the careless ableism of the church
Amy Kenny’s call for disability justice leads with righteous anger but offers grace.
How Christians in Korea helped build American evangelicalism
Helen Jin Kim exhumes the Korean roots of three major evangelical organizations, all present at a 1973 Billy Graham rally in Seoul.
Title 42’s disastrous—and illegal—legacy at the southern border
The Biden administration has reversed Trump’s rhetoric around migrants but not all of his policies.
July 10, 15C (Amos 7:7-17)
The prophets God sends among us are often vilified, distorted, and silenced.
On the holiness of casseroles and spreadsheets
When our church offered Rosa sanctuary, our ordinary habits became a politics of hospitality.
This is my broken body
When illness took over my life, I developed a new understanding of the Eucharist.
Thinking about God’s desire with the medieval mystics
“I have the sense that Mechthild of Magdeburg’s whole life was lived in pursuit of her divine beloved.”
Unexpected revelation
My conversation partner may have been a prophet—or a quack. My job was simply to listen.
For better or for worse, the church is keeping Haiti afloat
In the absence of strong political leadership, someone has to fill the void.
The unexpected gift of missional friendship
I was a United Methodist pastor. He was a campus minister with Cru.
Does Catholic higher ed have to sell its soul?
A truly Catholic university, says James Heft, steers a course between secularization and insularity.
Taking womanist theology to the beauty shop
“My mama was womanist. My grandma is womanist. Just because they don’t have the language or the identifier doesn’t make them less womanist.”
Under Elon Musk’s authority
Doing church on social media is not like standing in the public square. It’s more like putting ourselves under a form of sovereignty.
Byzantine and Catholic
Millions of Christians worship like the Orthodox but are aligned with Rome. Andy Warhol was one of them.
Communion tears
In my 15 years as a pastor, I’ve seen a lot of watery eyes at the table.