The Return of the Holiday Prodigal: It’s Complicated…

Posted in 21stCenturySpirituality, Bearings Review 2015, From Our Archives.

This time of year marks the return of the “C&E” crowd to churches—the folks who appear at Christmas and Easter. I imagine that lots of clergy and regular congregants have mixed feelings about these seasonal prodigals. On the one hand, it’s pretty magical to have a packed house at holiday services with extra voices ringing out the holiday hymns. On the other,... Read more

Who Has The Right to Be Violent?

Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, Bearings Review 2016, From Our Archives.

In July I was invited to speak about the #BaltimoreUprising at the Duke Summer Institute for Reconciliation. My presentation focused on “Why We Cry, How We Cry and Who Can Cry?” in response to state violence. “Why We Cry” dealt with the systemic and structural violence in Baltimore City—the years of neglect, disinvestment and underdevelopment. “How We Cry (The... Read more

Yes, Jesus Loves Us. Now What?

Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, From Our Archives.

“Jesus Loves Me” was one of the first songs we taught the twins when they started to put sounds together to form some semblance of words: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong— they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. But I remember... Read more

May Their Memory Be a Blessing

A Prayer of Hope after the Tree of Life Massacre

Posted in From Our Archives.

It was a damp and windy February day in 1991 when I walked those few solemn blocks. With trepidation I swung open the heavy door and for the first time entered a beautiful but cavernous space. As I slowly made my way down the aisle, about twelve men, some quite elderly, approached me with great chesed, loving-kindness. I immediately burst into tears, and before... Read more

Can Churches Build when the Walls Seem to Be Falling Down?

Creating New Imagination to Restore the Heart of Today's Church

Posted in 21stCenturyReligion, ChurchChange, From Our Archives.

This past January, the church I pastor, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, had its own “come to Jesus” moment during our Annual Church Meeting. I had done my due diligence all year — studying the latest data regarding church growth trends and reading articles that examined societal shifts impacting congregations across the country. Not much... Read more

Five Days in a ‘Thin Place’

A Pilgrimage before Coping

Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Coping, From Our Archives.

As someone who has volunteered in hospice for ten years and has written on the spirituality of dying and death, I am often asked about grief and coping with loss. I used to balk and say, “I do dying and death; not grief. I know nothing about coping with loss.” While I still do not presume to claim that I have clinical expertise or professional pastoral experience... Read more

Called to Dinner, Together

Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, From Our Archives.

Growing up, I didn’t realize that my proximity to extended family would, 40 years later, turn out to be an anachronism. With my much older sister and three of my father’s six siblings living within a few hundred yards of our family farm, I came and went as I pleased. My mother, an unenthusiastic cook, was happy for me to make the rounds to see who offered the... Read more

What the Parrots of Telegraph Hill and Other “Invasive Species” Can Teach the Church

Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, From Our Archives, Immigration.

Some years ago, while living in San Francisco, I encountered the parrots of Telegraph Hill. I was walking through a park on the Embarcadero, the city’s western waterfront, when I heard a racket overhead. Looking up, I could see bright flashes of color moving in the branches and occasionally taking flight among the eucalyptus trees. Startling to hear and see,... Read more

Don’t Fence Us In!

And Other Lessons Learned from the Real Lives of College Students

Posted in 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, From Our Archives, Lessons Learned.

Do this. Don’t do that. Spend your time this way. Pray this way. Believe this. Reject that. This is the kind of rigidity that young people like me cannot stand when it comes to religion. We just don’t get it. Indeed, although many would probably not say so outright, my hunch is that there is an underlying assumption among the increasing population of nonreligious... Read more

Border Crossings: Barriers or Points of Access?

Posted in 21stCenturyMinistry, From Our Archives.

From 1988 to 2012, I served as the pastor of a United Church of Christ congregation in the small city of Presque Isle, which is located in Aroostook County in northern Maine—just a few miles from the Canadian border. In the spring of 2001, I had been a member of the local Rotary Club for over a dozen years, and I was about to begin a term as club president. So... Read more