Learning from urban churches
Guest commentary by Nile Harper (What are the hallmarks of healthy churches in your region? Submit a blog or a “what’s right”..
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Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church
Carol Howard Merritt Harper One, San Francisco. 240 pages Reviewed by Meredith L. Kemp-Pappan At the church where I serve as pastor,..
Co-moderator reflections: What we are seeing so far
We greet you with great hopes for our denomination and with gratitude for the privilege of serving as your co-moderators. By the..
70 years ago — June 22, 1947
Ever since the eighteenth century modern man has believed in a progressive history in which future consequences were both the real test..
Christian Cooper
“The term ‘meritocracy’ was coined in 1958 as a mockery of the very idea of evaluation by merit alone. We’ve forgotten to..
Practicing hope when faced with the impossible
When caring for persons who are living with a serious life-limiting illness such as cancer, we as pastors, chaplains and caregivers encounter..
Night Comes: Death, Imagination, and the Last Things
Dale C. Allison Jr. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich. 185 pages Reviewed by Susan R. Garrett What hope for life beyond death can..
Cancer doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints
“In life and in death we belong to God. And life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task..
A New Song to Sing: Breast Cancer as Journey of Spirit
by Linda C. Loving Reviewed by Judith Watt One in eight women will receive the diagnosis of breast cancer in her lifetime...
Bremen-Bethel Presbyterian Church — Bremen, Ohio
What is right about my church is that although it is small and has experienced a decline in members and income over..
Caution: Contents fragile
Guest commentary by Carlton Johnson Do we really understand what it means to live in bodies of earthen vessels? Even after decades..
Marrow: A Love Story
Elizabeth Lesser HarperCollins. New York. 320 pages Reviewed by Leslie Klingensmith The subtitle of this book (“A Love Story”) is accurate, but..
How can we help? Congregational care in the midst of cancer
My cancer story, like many others, started with a routine check-up. I turned 40 and dutifully scheduled my first mammogram. With..
The Value of Doubt: Why Unanswered Questions, Not Unquestioned Answers, Build Faith
Bill Tammeus Skylight Paths Publishing, Nashville, Tenn. 160 Pages Reviewed by Michelle Sumption In a sermon I preached a few years ago..
“She’s on hospice”
Guest commentary by Franziska Rokoske It seems so innocuous, the request to keep people and their families in our thoughts and prayers..
Pastoral Care: Telling the Stories of Our Lives
Karen D. Scheib Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tenn. 256 pages Reviewed by Eunil David Cho In this book Karen D. Scheib, associate professor..
Joe Biden
“The only bipartisan thing left in America is the fight against cancer. I am unwilling to postpone for one day longer the..
The Presbyterian Church in the USA and the Public Schools – 60 years ago
60 years ago — May 27, 1957 The American people haven chosen to develop a free and universal public school system. “Memories..
Experiencing spacious time: An internet- and smartphone-free home
Guest commentary by Susan Forshey Over Easter weekend in 1999, my close friends convinced me to end my Lenten media fast a..
When God Made You
by Matthew Paul Turner (illustrated by David Catrow) WaterBrook, New York. 48 pages Reviewed by Kimberlee Frost After reading “When God Made..
Technology through the theological lenses of Thomas Merton and Jacques Ellul
Society generally views technology through a rational lens, judging technological products only insofar as they enhance convenience, or provide some new capability...
Protected: Unveiling the invisible community: Welcoming people with disabilities into Christ’s church (replay)
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Mystic media
How do we make faithful sense amidst the racket and discord of digital media? How do we “pay attention” in these spaces?..
First Presbyterian Church — Broken Bow, Oklahoma
FPC is a 73-member church in rural southeastern Oklahoma. Our last installed pastor retired several years ago, so we rely on pulpit..
When grace meets words of healing
Guest commentary by Tara Bulger Recently, an old picture of my daughter and me came across my social media feed. My daughter,..