Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
A Response to ‘Using Songs in Spite of the Songwriters’
Rebecca Prater's column is intriguing. Would the same criteria apply to a minister, a professor in a seminary, a leader of a denominational agency? I know some "fallen" ministers who do have a faith relationship...
Is the Country Ready for a New Debate on Poverty?
Call to Renewal had a very bipartisan conversation this week (March 27). A strong delegation of faith-based organization leaders spent Tuesday (March 26) at the White House and on Capitol Hill, talking with Republicans...
It’s a Small World After All
Forty-six years ago, President Eisenhower convened the People to People White House Conference on International Understanding. Walt Disney designed the delightful "It's A Small World" attraction as a result of those...
A Christ-haunted Culture
Southern literary icon Flannery O'Connor once said, "By and large, people in the South still conceive of humanity in theological terms. While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted."...
New Law Makes Sweeping Changes in Ministers’ 2001 Tax Returns
With so many changes in the tax law last year, some ministers might want to employ the services of a CPA or other tax expert for filing their 2001 federal income tax returns. The passage of the Economic Growth and Tax...
Churches Using Technology to Enhance Ministry
Many churches already use technology in real ways. Digital tools enhance everything from evangelism to ministry. How is God working through this "new medium" at your church? For example, how many people correspond with...
Creation Sunday: Celebrating Christ’s Reconciliation of All Creation
Does "environmentalism" have any place in a Christian worship service or in Sunday School? Some say no, others yes. This question is really a red herring from a biblical perspective. The "environment" is actually God's...
Under Sharia the Punishment Doesn’t Always Fit the Crime
Does religion permit government to kill its own citizens? According to international law, the answer is never. International law prohibits the death penalty. According to the Islamic legal code known as sharia,...
Is Teaching Ethics A Shady Business?
Teaching ethics can be a lucrative, albeit shady, profession, specifically if you are running for a U.S. Senate seat. James M. Talent earned $90,000 a year teaching two ethics courses to 20 students per class at...
Where was God on Sept. 11? Seeds of Faith and Hope
In Where Was God on Sept. 11? Seeds of Faith and Hope, editors Donald B. Kraybill and Linda Gehman Peachey have compiled short essays, articles, sermons, interviews and letters reflecting on the tragic events of Sept....
Children and Inhalants: It Will Make Your Head Spin
Children love to get dizzy. Go to any playground and you will see boys and girls hanging upside down on jungle gyms, swinging and twirling on swing sets, and pushing to go ever faster on merry-go-rounds. Absent the...
Using Songs in Spite of the Songwriters
Congregants sometimes ask questions that cause clergy to polish a new edge on their philosophy of music in worship. As minister of music and worship, I was recently faced with such a question. A congregant asked why we...
The Re-industrialization of Rural America
Even while the small textile and electronics plants of rural America have been closing, modern agriculture has become increasingly industrialized. Traditionally, family farms produced a healthy assortment of row crops,...
MCC Helps Provide for Afghans’ Needs
(MCC News Service ) MILE 46, Afghanistan " -- Two blue derelict Russian trucks with a cable strung between them mark the Afghan border crossing in the desert east of the Iranian city of Zabol. Friendly armed guards...
Arab Images in Movies Matter
"With violent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians again raging in the Middle East, their media images assume even greater weight and loom especially large," wrote Howard Rosenberg in the Los Angeles Times....
Culture Through the Lens of Religion and Ethics: An Interview with Bob Abernethy
"Religion and ethics are very much a part of culture," Bob Abernethy, host of PBS' "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," recently said in an interview with EthicsDaily.com. "We can't examine culture thoroughly unless we...
Toxic Anger Afflicts 20 Million Americans and Counting
People driving around with bumper stickers that read, "Aim higher boys, them rag heads is ridin' camels," may be conveying more than a warped sense of humor. They may be carrying around toxic anger. "Anger is an...
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Draws Concern from Religious Groups
Religious groups have voiced deep concerns about the escalating violence between Israel and Palestine. Yesterday morning, the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, its pastor's home and the church's International...
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Martin Luther's historic act on Oct. 31, 1517, had innumerable repercussions for the Christian faith. One significant outcome of his reforming movement was the development of the Lutheran Church, which quickly extended...
Preambles to Baptist Faith and Message Play Vital Role
Much has been said about the similarities and differences between the 1925, 1963 and 2000 Baptist Faith and Message adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention. Not nearly as much attention has been paid to the...
The Real Problem of Plagiarism in Religious Leadership
What does it mean when a religious leader—a recognized moral leader—is discovered to have used the unattributed words or ideas of others? Is the message's truth diminished by plagiarism? Students are catechized to...