By Andy Hale When I was a kid, my first Little League team was named after the New York Mets. It was the luck of the draw, considering the team from Queens had just won a World Series. Naturally, the Mets became my favorite team. And while some Mets fans wore the jersey of Keith … Continue reading
By Paul Baxley This past Sunday we began the Season of Advent. So much was different this year. Because of the surging coronavirus pandemic, we did not begin Advent with large congregations in sanctuaries. Many more worshipped online than in person. We could not sing the carols of Advent with the same energy, instead the … Continue reading
By Andy Hale It is election week. The tension is palpable. The stress is high. The division is evident. Whatever happens on Tuesday night, and more likely over the coming weeks, Americans face a new chapter. The unease by which we look at this next chapter, no matter who is elected, is that we have … Continue reading
Since 1985, the Network on Ministry in Specialized Settings (“COMISS”) has observed the last week of October as Spiritual Care Week – a time when we celebrate the sacred work of chaplains and pastoral counselors. This year’s Spiritual Care Week theme is “Collaborative Healthcare: Chaplains Complete the Picture.” Sometimes a picture is more informative and revealing than words. Often … Continue reading
By Stephen K. Reeves Will anything change this time? Will we look back on 2020 as the time America radically changed for the better? Will the arc of the moral universe be bent towards justice? As a pandemic rages claiming the lives of more than 100,000 Americans, so too a spiritual sickness grips our nation. … Continue reading
By Natasha Nedrick Dear White Christians, You cannot hold comfortable and traditional worship services after you witness unarmed black men and women being murdered in the street and still call yourself an ally. I woke up early Sunday morning to intentionally observe how white churches across the country would respond after bearing witness the grotesque … Continue reading
By Bruce Gentry During March, we started mirroring our approach to the virus to what the university was doing. The Baptist Student Center (BSC) had several apartments which were at full capacity. We felt like we had a primary responsibility to our residents because our facility also serves as a kind of community center for … Continue reading
By Ron Hinson A novel coronavirus emergence is an outcome of life cycles of ever-present change within the biological ecosystems of our earth. Prevention or response to such events can be marked by the false assumptions that we can sustainably “control” biology when, in truth, each new event marks a new scenario that we may … Continue reading
By Andy Hale As of the week of April 26, some states across the United States are starting to announce revised restrictions to the stay-at-home orders from the COVID-19 pandemic. When we emerge into this new normal, the church will need to rethink a lot. What are the short-term and long-term practices that need to … Continue reading
By Ruth Perkins-Lee Our elementary teachers staged a parade and I cried! My children were not surprised, and mostly just ignore me when my emotions leak out through my eyes. These teachers decorated their cars, divided up addresses and meandered through neighborhoods of the students in their school. With windows rolled down, streamers flowing, painted … Continue reading
