What parallels are there in how we grow the church and how cities do economic development? Should the focus of our development efforts be on people or on places. That is, should we make investments in people, hoping to see them succeed regardless of where they end up? Or should we focus on investments in particular institutions, thus helping the people who are already there?
Ian Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary looks at the phenomenon of Donald Trump and urges action to stand against the darkness and rage unleashed by his candidacy
Updated What is the role of religious leaders when political choices and campaign rhetoric have moral and theological implications? Do we speak up or shut up?
Religion Dispatches has a great post up about the popularity of TED talks and the ways they hearken back to 19th century Lyceum lectures by
Sarah Condon, writing in Mockingbird, writes to Gloria Steinem and Madeline Albright, asking them to “stop trash-talking young women,” and describes how she was mentored in her faith and as a feminist by a woman priest of their generation.
Hollywood has trouble telling stories about Muslims in other contexts because the entertainment industry isn’t very good at talking about the daily practice of religion, no matter what a character’s faith is.
Bishop Dan Edwards of Nevada responds to a recent blog post about the suicide of mainline churches that has been making the rounds.
In our modern, connected world stories rise like rockets and quickly traverse the media sky and what seemed to generate so much light and noise in the immediate experience quickly fade from our attention. Sometimes, these stories speak to deeper happenings in the life of the body (and sometimes not) but here are some thoughts on the Church in the year just passed.
Star Wars – need we say more?
Betsy, Greg, Liz, and Richard explore the world of Jessica Jones and how the show deals with themes of abuse, recovery, and free will.