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Will Millennials Forge a Future for the Progressive Black Church?

By Joshua L. Lazard

…cally smaller (and often decidedly younger) group, holds their own worship service. The name derives from the fact that the start time of the service is rather late. Central to late nights is the preaching moment. Standard practice has been that the younger preachers, or at least not well-known preachers, would be selected to preach. It is an opportunity for attendees to hear the new, up and coming preachers and for the elder clergy to stand in th…

Abortion and the Stories Clergy Tell

By Dennis S. Ross

…hat my denominational professional organization, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, endorsed access to birth control in 1929 and cooperation with Planned Parenthood in 1947. As the decades passed, we, and clergy from other religious groups, demanded access to reproductive health care, including abortion. We weren’t dismissive of the woman’s pregnancy. Rather, we affirmed that the moral high ground is in a woman’s decision whether or not to…

Trump is a Nightmare, Sure, But Can He Actually Do Anything?

By Sunnivie Brydum

…tions pursuing greater equity, said that the threat level currently facing American democracy and the progressive movement is indeed dire, if not wholly unprecedented. And while most of these experts expressed hope in the resilience of the American experiment, they were also careful not to understate the damage that has already been done to longstanding socio-political norms, and the very real assaults being waged against the same diverse communit…

Sometimes Salvation Looks Like Rage: An Open Letter to “Non-denominational” Churches

By Yazmine Nichols

…, does not in fact live out the scriptural call to social action and daily service to those in need. Instead, my church, like many non-denominational churches, is evangelical. The term “non-denominational” is supposed to connote a non-affiliation with traditional denominations. It is supposed to, as my fellow churchgoers put it, “avoid the stigma of Christianity.” Instead of calling themselves Christians, many evangelicals call themselves disciple…

“Not a Fan of the Undergarments”: A Mormon Mother Blogs

By Karen Maezen Miller

…urch—it’s often overwhelming. Mormon women tend to interpret the tools for service as obligations. One more damn thing! And we’re supposed to do it all without stimulants (coffee) or relaxants (wine). It never surprises me when they report that Utah has the highest per capita rate of antidepressant prescriptions. To be fair, the church authorities tell women over and over not to be so hard on themselves. It’s tricky to find the balance, but that’s…

RIP: Bishop Otis Charles and Rev. Robert Nugent

By Peter Montgomery

…ry 1 at age 76. The Washington Post carried Kevin Eckstrom’s Religion News Service obituary of Nugent, which notes that Nugent had been silenced by the Vatican for his work with LGBT Catholics. In many ways, the scrutiny of Nugent’s activism symbolized the Vatican’s approach to all talk of homosexuality under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI — what one gay Catholic group called a “witch hunt” — compared with the more tolerant “who am I to judge…

Orthodox Rabbi Imitates Pat Robertson

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…veral other military-commissioned and GAO studies have concluded that open service does not undermine military readiness, troop morale or national security. In addition 24 countries, including Israel, allow openly gay service members without any adverse affect upon military cohesion or readiness. As for natural disasters, Levin may want to study up on what causes earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. I don’t see “gays and lesbians” listed among t…

RNC Takes America to Church, Mormon Style, as Rank-and-File LDS Step Up

By Joanna Brooks

…sibilities of an LDS bishop—not theology, not ritual, but rather practical service that ranged from counseling physically, economically, and spiritually distressed parishioners to “shoveling snow for the elderly” and folding chairs after church meetings. Next came Ted and Pat Oparowski, Mormons from New Hampshire who Romney had visited every month when he was serving back in the 1970s as a “home teacher,” a volunteer position held by virtually eve…

Mitt Romney: Wooden Pastor or Real Boy?

By Mary Barker

…ty is hard-pressed to understand. So without demeaning in the least Mitt’s service rendered, it is possible to be a bit cynical about what it all means. Mormons worship a God that is constantly judging them. They earn not just heaven, but varying degrees of exaltation in heaven based on their “performance” here on Earth. Considering themselves God’s elect (having proven “valiant” before birth in a spiritual “pre-existence” and thus having been bor…

Bishops, It Is Nobody’s Fault But Your Own

By Kate Childs Graham

…set goals that remain unfulfilled” by the Catholic News Service (the “news service” created by the USCCB) suggested that while the anniversary of the document has gone uncelebrated: …that doesn’t mean the bishops’ core messages — challenging the world’s nuclear powers to rid their arsenals of nuclear weapons and discussing the importance of peacemaking in everyone’s life — has been lost, according to some of the country’s leading peace advocates……