Fourth Presbyterian Church’s “Deep Listening Dinners” focus on strengthening relationships, developing conversational skills and practicing handling differences in a respectful manner.
In touchstone moments, students return to ritual, writes Eliza Smith DeBevoise. This is a generation who desires honesty over being polished, awareness over versatility.
A Matthew 18 church is one where welcome is practiced, conflict is named, grace is extended, and God is present, writes Eliza Jaremko.
The theologian and often-overlooked civil rights hero would have warned us against politics as a zero-sum game.
The state of Texas is flouting human rights law, and the PC(USA)'s response rings hollow, opines Robert Lowry.
What does it mean to be a pastor without a church? What does it mean to be a church without a pastor? Karie Charlton reflects.
Is your church going through a period of transition? Christian Shearer offers his favorite metaphor for congregational discernment: the labyrinth.
Scott Hagley suggests small congregations as places for cultivating communities of abundance and care, as common places for social healing and spiritual renewal.
"I held the conviction that if anything could unite us amidst our differences, it had to be Jesus," writes Doug Basler.
College ministry completely changes every four years. Perhaps there's a lesson here for the larger church to learn, writes Maggie Alsup.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman offers a glimpse into worship: how faith is passed on not with words but with actions, how we are held as we hold, how we might elevate our spirits as we tenderly reach for others.
Bobbi Kaye Jones writes the letter that she wishes someone had written to her.
Christ-centered, intentionally intergenerational, creative, hospitable and celebratory, this church isn’t easy, but it’s magnificent, writes Jenny McDevitt.
"The missing never ends, nor does that love that reached from my dad to me to my daughter and back," Mary Bird Lanzavecchia.
Whether you desire a new building or a new interpretation of Scripture, progress cannot be made if leaders are conflict-averse, writes Teri McDowell Ott.
Is your church mostly blue, largely red or solidly purple? Whatever the case, pastoral theologian Eileen Campbell-Reed wants you to prioritize and ritualize your congregation’s grief to help you find your way in this new era of ministry.
Moving forward in the spirit of agape love can help allay dissonance and build the Beloved Community, Lesley Anne Earles and Debra J. Mumford write.
Is the church stuck in a lifeboat? Presbytery leader Sue Krummel thinks we should be asking "Why?" instead of seeking appeasement.
"Nothing is wrong with smallness if that smallness is chock-full of faithfulness," writes Whitney Wilkinson Arreche.
"It feels like resurrection." Small church member Beth Bradshaw reflects on the ups and downs of attending a church in a small town.
In each issue of the Outlook, we include a discussion guide to further reflect on the issue. We recommend using this guide in your Bible study, small group or book club. It's our invitation into a faithful conversation.
The school in Mayesville, South Carolina, once had a prominent space in the community’s heart. A group of alumni are working hard to renew its mission.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman invites readers to transcend an ominous image.
R. Shea Watts reflects on modern iconographer Kelly Latimore’s “Christ in the Rubble” image. In Epiphany, where do we find God’s revelation in a world full of violence?
We asked you to write about small, beautiful moments in 250 words or less. Here are some of our favorite submissions.
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