I would like to thank Robert Gagnon for sharing his thoughts on my Christianity Today article, Understanding Gender Dysphoria. My article sought to briefly introduce the three frameworks (integrity, disability, and diversity) through which transgender matters can be seen rather than offer an . . . . Continue Reading »
When Harvey Cox was a student minister in Berlin in 1962, one year after the erection of the Wall, he was able to travel back and forth between East and West because he held an American passport. He thus became a courier for pastors and Christian laypeople on both sides of that divide and was . . . . Continue Reading »
Does the Church actually need a new (or new old) option? Continue Reading »
Leonard was one of those pastoral visits pastors avoid.He was a guy who just got lost in the life of the congregation. He got mad at a pastor back in the mid-1950s and stopped attending worship. He came on and off—mostly off—during successive pastorates thereafter, but never with any regularity. . . . . Continue Reading »
I have a confession to make. In my former life as a Baptist youth evangelist, I did some things of which I am not now particularly proud. For example, on one occasion I dressed up like the devil and went to the local high school, where I told the students just arriving for class that day not to . . . . Continue Reading »
When pastoral language is the same as political rhetoric, Christians face an array of difficult problems. Continue Reading »
As America lurches toward a fully same-sex-affirming public square, it is increasingly urged along by that most curious of cheerleaders: the “affirming pastor.” Continue Reading »
Why do churches hire younger pastors? Continue Reading »
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2013, median clergy income was 14 percent lower than the overall median income in the U.S. This is all the more striking when one considers that most professional clergy received years of specialized religious and theological graduate training after receiving their undergraduate degrees. Indeed, median clergy earnings are 24 percent lower than median earnings of people who hold undergraduate degrees, and 36 percent less than individuals who hold masters’ degrees. Continue Reading »
“Nobody criticizes us. We have no enemies,” Warden Burl Cain tells me as the servers load our plates with Big Lou’s brisket, ribs, chicken, grits-n-shrimp casserole, and baked beans. “I have the number for the head of the local ACLU on my cell phone, and she has my number on hers.” Continue Reading »
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