Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
How to Stop Being the Center of Your Universe
I'm finding myself in a liminal space, reflecting as I gear up for another semester of marriage, school, ministry, recruiting, traveling, speaking, learning, preaching and pastoring. And I'm noticing a trend – it's...
Jerusalem School Targeted by Extremist Vandals
There was a criminal attack on the Hand in Hand school in Jerusalem. When school principal Nadia Kinani arrived early one morning, she found "Death to Arabs" spray-painted in huge letters across the walls of the...
10 Commandments for Working for Change: Part One
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series. I've been thinking, at 57, about how disappointing the world, other people, the church, society, politicians, even myself, are. And yet, I hope. I still think...
Being responsible
Yesterday I was listening to Stanley Hauerwas, professor of theological ethics at Duke, as he spoke to a class at Campbell University before delivering the Relgion Department Staley Lecture in the evening. Somewhere in...
Appeals Court Strikes Down California Ban on Same-sex Marriage
LOS ANGELES (RNS) In a decision that likely will set the stage for a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California's Proposition 8 ballot measure that...
N.C. Muslims Rally Around Suspects in Beheading Plot
WILMINGTON, N.C. (RNS) As a Muslim woman waits in jail for word on a possible indictment in her alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire beheading plot, her friends and family are using social media to rally support...
White House Signals Backtrack on Contraception Rule
(RNS) White House advisors, including one of President Obama's top faith consultants, are signaling a potential compromise on a controversial new mandate that requires some religious institutions to cover contraception...
Some Controversies Too Important To Oversimplify
Citing national debates over the religious and judicial implications having to do with fluoridation of water would draw little notice. Such was not always the case. At last mid-century, when the pile of letters to the...
Us vs. Them: Anti-Immigration Fear in the Bible
As the 2012 presidential election approaches, various issues vie for a spot in the candidates' "talking points." With the U.S. military presence in the Middle East waning, the presidential campaign will likely focus on...
Eating Is Moral Act in World Where Obese Outnumber Hungry
U.S. Catholic magazine posted a jolting article about the unbalanced diet in the global community, which now has more obese people than hungry people. "In a world of want where 1.4 billion people are struggling to...
British Group Can’t Tout Divine Healing in Ads, Website
LONDON (RNS) Britain's powerful media advertising watchdog has banned a Christian group from claiming on its website and brochures that God's cure-all powers can heal a string of medical ailments. The Advertising...
Priest Fired for Refusing to Use New Catholic Prayers
ST. LOUIS (RNS) For 18 years, the Rev. William Rowe has done a little improvising while celebrating Mass on Sunday mornings at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mount Carmel, Ill. Now those deviations have led to his...
Chaplains Hear Call to Serve God While Serving Country
(RNS) Growing up in Kuwait, Asif Balbale thought he wanted to become a chemical engineer. He never imagined enlisting in the U.S. Navy, much less becoming an imam. Balbale got his engineering degree after immigrating...
Your Church Lost Its Way? 6 Questions to Ask
A favorite expression in my family of origin was, "Don't bite off more than you can chew." It was not used just at the dinner table but also as a reminder that sometimes we attempt more than we are capable of...
Why God Doesn’t Recognize Your Plans
For the past three years, I have been a family group Bible study leader with the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the College of William and Mary. Leading this family group has been one of the greatest blessings I have...
Arizona Schools Forced to Ban Ethnic-Studies Books
Are my books banned in Arizona? Arizona school districts that are largely comprised of Mexican-Americans have been forcedtoeliminate ethnic-studies programs because they are allegedly un-American, apparently teaching...
Big Sundays
What's the biggest Sunday of the year for your church? I posed that question to the "Life and Work of the Minister" class I'm teaching this semester, and thought I'd pass on some of the results. The class consists of...
Pastor Poised to Be First Black to Lead Baptists
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) After months of urging from other Baptists around the country, the Rev. Fred Luter told his African-American congregation that he will seek to become the first black man to lead the predominantly...
Muslims Petition Attorney General for NYPD Probe
(RNS) More than 30 Muslim and legal advocacy groups are urging New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman to investigate the New York City Police Department after the second scandal in as many weeks involving...
Vatican to Host Global Summit on Sexual Abuse
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Ten years after the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in the United States, Catholic bishops from all over the world will meet next week at a Vatican summit aimed at preventing abuse and protecting...
Christian Group Wants Religious Exemption to Bully Teens
Did you know that in the state of Tennessee there is a law against bullying in schools? It allows local school districts to develop policies to ensure that students are protected from physical harm, threats of physical...