Who are the “nones,” the more than 50% of the U.S. population who told Gallup pollsters in 2020 they no longer belong to a church, synagogue or mosque?
Since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti Saturday, people have been sleeping outside waiting for possible aftershocks. When tropical storm Grace hit Monday, they had yet another horrible choice to make.
During this week’s digital workshop for religious communicators on podcasting, the Rev. Stephanie Kendell said her theology as a podcaster can be summed up in eight words: “connect and build community in any way possible.”
Looking at our history — especially the sins of the past — is an invaluable way to move forward, says Dr. Heath W. Carter, Associate Professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Some of the best worship and most meaningful preaching the Rev. Landon Whitsitt has seen and heard during the pandemic has come from preachers and other worship leaders willing to share themselves in an authentic way with those attending the online services they’re creating each week.
The pandemic has given church leaders “opportunity at a very strange time,” the Rev. Jessica Vaughan Lower said during her Facebook Live conversation Thursday on leading congregations in 2021. The Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty, senior director for Theological Funds Development for the Committee on Theological Education at the Presbyterian Foundation, appeared with Lower as part of the twice-monthly online conversations he hosts with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders from around the country.
In Gail Godwin’s book “The Finishing School,” which features an older woman and a 14-year-old girl, the woman tells the girl she can tell by looking whether a person has congealed. That person will have no more surprises, the woman tells her young friend, and to avoid the trap she must constantly be on guard against gelling too soon. It’s a valued vignette in one of the Rev. Dr. Lib Caldwell’s favorite books.
As a member of Generation X and the person who runs an organization helping seminaries provide great theological education, the Rev. Dr. Frank Yamada said he sees himself as someone who’s present during both the first and last breaths of ministry — as both midwife and hospice chaplain.
Many of a certain age can harken back fondly to loading into the family station wagon and visiting the local drive-in movie theater. Finding just the right spot to get a great view of the screen, attaching the scratchy metal speaker to the partially rolled-down window, and sitting in the back seat with blankets, pillows, a big tub of popcorn, and a drink were integral parts of the outdoor movie experience.
