On the closing day of the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Liberty, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced plans to create a new International Religious Freedom Alliance.
Such anniversaries present an opportunity to reclaim the history that racism and sexism obscured, bringing the narrative back into more truthful telling with understanding the systemic obstacles overwhelming
Sioux Falls Seminary’s “Baptistness” lies not in the application of some “Baptist principle” or set of principles. Rather, we seek to be resonant with the historic genius of the Baptist ethos, one grounded in the Baptist conviction of Christ’s lordship that leads to a decentering of all things human, including institutions.
Secretary Pompeo recently announced the establishment of a Commission on Unalienable Rights, to furnish advice for the promotion of individual liberty, human equality, and democracy through U.S. foreign policy. In his opening remarks, Secretary Pompeo expressed his “hope that this ministerial will inform that discussion.”
The crackdown, part of a broader effort in recent years to restrict China’s fast-growing religious groups, includes detaining over one million ethnic minority Muslims in internment camps in the far western region of Xinjiang, removing crosses from churches, conducting surveillance inside churches, closing churches and demolishing church buildings.
The Baptist World Alliance calls upon Baptists to “Repent from the teachings and practices” that “have prevented women from flourishing as human beings created in the image of God and full members of the body of Christ,” and to be open to the Holy Spirit’s power to provoke transformation so that Baptists might affirm “the God-given calling of women for service in the church.”
Unlike the career development target of identifying skills, interests and needs to be fulfilled, a mission in life identifies the value to which you choose to dedicate your energy and focus. Few things contribute to purpose in life more than having a sense of mission and carrying out our assignment from God.
The upheaval we’re experiencing—from a toxic public discourse to the airing of grievances to the gridlock on important issues—can feel overwhelming and make us feel so small. We can wonder, perhaps even worry, about the sense of our small efforts.
History may be presented as abstract and distant, but this documentary reminds us that we’ve already gone too long as a nation in making the Reconstruction era just that. Without a greater appreciation of the past, we repeat its sins.
One of the factors contributing to women and men leaving ministry is the often heavy cost of theological education leading to the assumption of considerable debt. In response to these challenges, Sioux Falls Seminary’s Kairos Project has abandoned the credit hour in favor of a revolutionary financial model for operating and pricing degrees.
Four encouraging and promising trends that I observed in my interactions with Christian leaders and entrepreneurs are also representative of many other pastors, teachers, and servants, and that give me much hope for the Church of the 21st century.
Those who are prepared to follow you stand positioned to further the good works of the church, organization, or institution. But to realize such positive trajectories, it is up to us as leaders to do the work of preparation.
Jesus cautioned against anyone who would prevent small children from coming to him. There is hypocrisy in our churches if we laud legislation that decreases abortion, but decry legislation that limits access to guns.
My father was not in ministry. He was a lifelong salesman, selling industrial locking systems to institutions. Yet I’ve come to realize that frequently his tips are relevant to ministry.
What is to be done in response to the global threat to the freedom to worship without fear?
We cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor. And it is exceedingly hard to love our Jewish neighbors if we do not even know them.
Pentecost shifts the focus of the Christian community away from the singular focus on the life of Jesus and on to a clearer focus of the ministry of the church in the world.
God is looking for worshippers who sincerely love him, and are not “fair-weather” worshippers. God is looking for authentic worshippers, who will give praises throughout all the vicissitudes of life.
Being in such close proximity, and in common cause, one finds an opportunity to be in conversation with people who reside in different tribes. It’s easy to reach across the aisle when the guy next to you is riding such a cool machine.
What it means to witness for Jesus Christ and what that looks like when thinking of people who don’t look like you or speak like you, or who have a different culture than you.
The church that claims to be following Jesus is walking in darkness when the light is not shined on mental illness, especially when the mentally ill do not feel welcomed to talk about their illness.
Whether we are ordained or lay, we are called to equip others for work in God’s service. In so doing, we multiply what can be accomplished.”
Does “attend at your own risk” welcome the child carrying an emergency epinephrine auto-injector (medicine for severe reactions), or does it remind them that this space that should be sanctuary is another area of potential danger?
Recent speeches in the Kansas City area by an American Baptist leader urged Baptists to reclaim the historic understanding of true religious liberty for all. Aidsand Wright-Riggins, the former head of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies and now mayor of Collegeville, Pa., delivered the 2019 Shurden Lectures, an annual event held by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Every religious tradition has cleansing rituals for moral injury. Altar calls, baptism, confession and reconciliation, and penitential pilgrimages all have their secular counterparts. People with moral injury often seek paths to healing, many of which do not involve the Church. I hope churches can reclaim this ministry of healing and restoration. I hope each church can help people connect the dots between moral injury and rituals of cleansing and reconciliation.
Anti-Semitism is real and serious, but it is not anti-Semitic to criticize injustices perpetrated by the state of Israel and its supporters.
It was by faith in a risen savior, not a myth or a metaphor, that my slave ancestors and subsequent generations of African Americans have been able to endure the horrors of life in this country for the last 400 years.
May 14 marks one year since the U.S. Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, five months after President Trump announced the move December 6. What has the U.S. done about peace since then?
A few schools have begun to move beyond the level of different forms of content delivery and have begun to re-envision theological education in a more thoroughgoing manner. One of these schools is Sioux Falls Seminary, with its Kairos Project.
For leaders who do evil or for people who are mean, we cannot pray, like the Psalmist, to “Let ruin come on them unawares.” Rather, we are best served to pray for good to triumph over evil and for God to give us strength to overcome evil with good.
How you observe Mother’s Day matters. If it tends to be celebrated in a one-size-fits-all manner with great joy, it will be blessedly so for some. For others, it will reinforce a host of reasons why Mother’s Day is a day of mixed feelings.
Be it voluntary or involuntary childlessness or the result of strained relations, Mother’s Day is not always easy. On Mother’s Day, why not celebrate all women?”
None of us can change the world on our own, but we each can make our own contribution. The process of deepening your intentionality is about embracing the choices that stand before you.
The Bible is not the only old book that’s worth reading. Other old books may not be divinely inspired, but they can be treasure houses of wisdom.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a good time to consider starting or expanding a mental health ministry in your church and community.
Anti-Semitism. Racial prejudice and violence. Opening American borders to welcome refugees from a minority religious background. The relationship between church and state. Genocide. War and peace. These societal problems dominate the headlines, and thoughtful Baptists and other Christians are wondering how their beliefs can inform their responses to such pressing concerns.
Are we willing to step beyond the interfaith gatherings when tragedy strikes local communities and faraway countries, and work daily to dismantle hate and fear in personal and global ways alike? Can we embrace the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, language, religion, politics, class and other markers of difference, create peacemaking, and live out the grace to differ and be different?
As places that attract young families, churches need to be better aware of the prevalence of postpartum mood disorders, and learn how to support new mothers as they care for their children and themselves.
Mental illness is the loneliest and quietest of illnesses. Sometimes we do not know we have it. Or, we do not acknowledge it. We do not talk about it much. We do not want to. Few people know or understand. Yet the hurting is profound, confusing, and lonely.”
Gaslighting is a common tool of abusers to make their victims feel like they must be wrong, they must be crazy. Gaslighting involves the victim questioning their view of reality, their experiences, their knowledge, and uses their emotional reaction against them.
Are we meant to feel guilty and depressed on Good Friday? We don’t feel “good” about Christ suffering. Are we meant to feel the pressure to be grateful for Jesus’ torment?
At the root of the LGBT movement is the search for something that people of faith also cherish: authenticity. In other words, to live freely according to one’s moral code in public and in private, to be unburdened by others’ judgments of what constitutes the good life, and to thrive peacefully alongside others with different ideas. You might call that equality.
It is my belief that those who will be attending worship on Easter long to hear a word that connects the “power of the resurrection” to the vicissitudes of their lives.
Traditional efforts to literally scare the hell out of people can and have caused significant damage, especially to children.
Three taboos of courteous conversation are politics, religion and money. Surprisingly, the last week in the earthly life of Jesus included all three.
Unfortunately, searching for a church community is more difficult than we perceive it to be. It comes with a myriad of questions and concerns. These can at times, hinder God’s intention to find your purpose within God’s idea of community, the local church.
In a diverse society, we face the challenge of differing perspectives and life experience all the time. From the holiday dinner table to the church council to interfaith dialogue, we encounter people who think, believe, dress, and act differently than we do.
Patriotism—this kind of devotion—is not something you do alone. For the word patriot has a derivative: compatriot, which means “fellow country people.” We are destined to be in relationship with one another. For we live together in communities, not alone.
As we prepare for the Passion of our Christ, the conversation begins anew about who was responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. I maintain that “who killed Jesus?” is not the pertinent question. It is pertinent to understand the context, yes; but moreover, to know that through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are redeemed.”
Theological schools in North America are facing a time when they must turn toward new models and philosophies.
Like Moses, King was able to see the fulfillment of a promise, even if he doubted he would live to experience it himself. Like Moses, King lived a consequential, if not a long, life.
Faith is knowing that when God helps you, there is no challenge that can’t be met. There’s no mountain that can’t be climbed. There’s no valley that can’t be crossed. There’s no enemy that can’t be defeated. There’s no darkness that can’t be overcome.
One way of reading the story of Martha and Mary from Luke’s Gospel is that contemplation is preferable to action. Another way of reading it is that some circumstances call for contemplation, for listening, for stillness; others call for active response.
Is Recreational Complaint Syndrome holding your church back? Don’t let this sink your church.
Perhaps when Jesus spoke about the darkness not overcoming the light, he was not speaking about a nation’s politics or governance.
As a Christian educator, I am frequently asked by churches about the best techniques for turning children into Christian believers. As the national director of discipleship ministries at the Home Mission Societies, I am asked to help cast a vision for faith formation across the human lifespan. I maintain that much of our task in discipleship formation is repentance and remediation.
A towering, 40-foot concrete cross in Bladensburg, Maryland is at the center of a fascinating Establishment Clause case pending before the United States Supreme Court. To claim that the cross is merely a secular grave marker ignores history, culture, theology, tradition, and common sense.
One of the best times to consider the questions of the curious is during Lent, when thinking people of faith can wonder and converse about the meaning of Easter.
In a world addicted to “go”, have you given thought to the merciful self-permission to stop or deaccelerate?
For three generations before me, the men of my mother’s side of the family were ministers. Their communion sets are pieces of my family history that help tell the story of where I came from.
Lent leads Christians into Easter. And every pilgrimage — every serious spiritual sojourn — starts with prayer. Borrowing the words of James Brown, “Get on the good foot.” Let’s make prayer the foundational priority through every step of our Lenten journey.
The season of Lent offers an opportunity to be intentional about one’s spiritual journey. As we struggle with overcoming our own spiritual and emotional challenges, may we grow towards finding common ground among brothers and sisters with differences
Women’s History Month is a good time to focus on Womanist Theology as part of a continuing conversation about the contexts in which the Bible was written, in which it is currently being interpreted, and in which many who read the Bible are living every day.
I’m grateful for the season of Lent, and these practices that have helped me be more aware, more thoughtful, and more free. Have you taken on a Lenten practice this year? Whether you take something on or give something up, it’s not too late to begin.
My mother taught, tithed and tended the people and projects of her church throughout all her adult years. This article is for her and all the women like her.
What if this Lent, many of us welcomed and risked a rejection each day? What if we embraced this counterintuitive way to strengthen and hone our discipleship?
In all her work she advocated for—and embodied—the rightful place of women in positions of leadership. She helped spearhead the movement to make the University of Rochester coeducational and broke new ground as the first woman to serve on the Rochester Board of Education.
“Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.” One by one they came, listened, received. But halfway through, I faltered.
A few years ago, I made a change and started reading more fiction again. The insights in various genres—literary, historical, romance, science fiction and fantasy—all have led me to think differently about the questions we wrestle with theologically.
We learned that as many as 1 in 6 Haitian children will not live to see their 5th birthday due to waterborne illness. We wanted to serve God not only spiritually but also serve our brethren in a tangible way. Through prayer, we decided to do something, no matter how small, about clean water.
The formation that takes place in and through the life of the family truly is the foundation for a child’s spiritual growth.
The intent of American liberty was always directed to all, although our practices, like the bell, contain some cracks in them.
The story of the Good Samaritan is core to who I am as a Christian: to be a neighbor, to show mercy, to anyone, regardless of who they are.
A crowd of old and young, women and children congregated around wooden benches and told stories of their hard lives. Two villagers in their 90s described how they fled from their original village to the current village. The eyes of women and young children looked with curiosity and followed the team on the dirt road as we departed. When can they walk away free?
A delegation of American Baptist leaders, including general secretary emeritus, A. Roy Medley, visited Kachin State, Myanmar, January 4-9, 2019. Dr. Medley spoke with The Christian Citizen about the concerns facing the Kachin people, the suffering of the Christian community in Myanmar, and the prospects for renewing the stalled peace process.
The evacuation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is a painful, yet important, reminder of the dangers inherent in majority rule. An important check on this power
to sway governance for good or ill is the voice of people for whom God’s righteous reign is the supreme goal.
In a time where xenophobia and other forms of fear are heightened domestically and internationally, being up front and honest about our history, malevolent threads of that tapestry included, is desperately needed.
Our challenge is not to redirect the president’s use of emergency powers to something we would prefer he address. It is to contest the use of such powers given the threat to they pose to liberty.
To give attention to society’s most vulnerable requires us to become humble and shed power. For many Christians, this is too great a cost. And so, it is far easier to say this “earthly” kingdom is about structures, utility, and economy and God’s Kingdom (up there far away in heaven) is about love, kindness, and grace. Such dualism tempts Christians to ignore the challenging but required work of Jesus.
Do we truly arrive at our best verdicts when we permit the crowdsourcing of moral judgment based on limited information, sound bites, press conferences and anonymous allegations to prevail over civil discourse and informed deliberation?
The disruption and loss which generate fear can be necessary and even life-giving. Dealing with change and loss is a constant part of human experience. It’s never easy, but being overcome by fear, or simply resisting and complaining take a tremendous amount of energy which we could put into more creative pursuits.
In a just world, individuals and groups with a higher level of power and influence would be held to higher standards. In fact, it’s often just the opposite.
The year was 1864. The very fabric of the nation and the churches in America had been torn asunder by the Civil War. American Baptists were so passionate about the social justice issues that prompted the conflict, that representatives of the American Baptist Home Mission Society met with President Abraham Lincoln to share their loyalty to the North’s position.
What makes us so strong? The strength to press through suffering is in the spiritual DNA of the black church. It was stamped into the conscious of a people who refused to be silenced.
The fragment of the Berlin Wall that was torn down in 1989 is a reminder that building bridges of understanding is always better than building walls of separation and division. I think about the Berlin Wall as I watch our nation wrapped up over the question about a wall at the border that divides the United States and Mexico.
If we wish to do something about the condition of our country, if we seek to improve our individual and shared lives, then let us tear down the walls that exist between us. Let us instead use our energies to build paths to one another so that we can, together, create a more hopeful society.
As we approach the MLK holiday, the witness and legacy of Civil Rights leaders cannot be kept in past tense and treated nostalgically in our public gatherings and celebrations common this time of year. We need persons who can speak to the nation like Dr. King, yet we need the many individuals like Rosa Parks who work for justice and fair treatment on the ground level of our local communities even more.
Patriotism, as exemplified by Dr. King, thinks evaluatively about one’s country in light of its best values, including the attempt to correct it when it’s in error and fix it when it is broken. Yet especially on our national patriotic holidays, too often our churches promote nationalism—the uncritical support of one’s nation regardless of its moral, truthful or political bearing.
We can talk all we want to about saving souls from hell and preaching the pure and simple gospel, but unless we preach the social gospel our evangelistic gospel will be meaningless.
Ultimately, a congregation cannot express God’s love without being involved and present. The very act of love compels us to connect with people and walk the journey together.
Amid a government shutdown, battles over border wall funding, political polarization, continuing involvement in armed conflicts, and posturing by elected officials, I have found myself posing a provocative question: “What would Martin do?”
All the energy, anger, and fear directed at people who are desperate enough to flee violence on foot toward a hope in what they believe is the greatest country in the world.
Have we lost sight of the goodness of Earth, this remarkable, fragile, sanctuary that teems with life and possibility amid the cold, indifferent, expanse of space?
The Water Warriors are not only fighting for their own survival, they are working for a world in which the sacredness of water is valued.
We only sing “O Holy Night” once a year. Yet may this social justice Christmas carol call forth our determination and our action, in God’s name, that all oppression shall cease.
If you have been to church at some point in your life during Advent or Christmas, you’ve most likely seen an adorable Christmas play or pageant. The problem is, when you read the Gospel of Luke or Matthew, there’s no innkeeper or an inn. Such things are a Christmas myth.
During Advent and Christmas, we remember a God who most fully revealed God’s self to humanity in the form of a baby born to a poor family, forced to go somewhere they don’t want to go, unable to find welcome anywhere, ending up giving birth in a lonely and dirty place. Are you ready to welcome such a God?
Instead of proclaiming a message of “good news to all people” to a world that knows better, perhaps this Christmas we should stay with the truth of the second verse. One has come to show us the way to be reconciled to God and one another. To the extent that we do that, we shall know peace, joy and love. To the extent that we don’t, the darkness will continue.
The days and weeks of Advent offers Christians a special opportunity to look intensely to the Light in the midst of darkness—be it global, national, communal or personal. If we but seek, we will find the inextinguishable presence of Christ shining brightly, beaming with hope, glowing with joy, blazing in peace, burning with love.