Performing arts
Recently published
Pride and pressure: The Easter speech
A tradition rooted in Black excellence has served as a celebration of the resurrection and a training ground for generations of children.

Remembering the enslaved Black creators of Negro spirituals
A Massachusetts congregation will be paying “royalties” to local arts nonprofits to acknowledge the musicians who were never compensated.

Mel Williams: Singing our way to hope
Singing draws people together, comforts the grieving, motivates and inspires. But most of all, it gives us hope, writes a Baptist pastor emeritus and singer.

Gretchen E. Ziegenhals: This Lent, turning again and again to God and one another
When a church turned away from musician Steve Bell and his family, inmates at the federal prison where his father was a chaplain turned toward them, welcoming their brokenness and helping Bell discover a gift from God and a vision for what church can be.

Luke A. Powery: Spirituals teach us about suffering before God
African-American spirituals have given voice to people for whom “Lent was life,” says the dean of Duke Chapel, who has written a new book called “Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals.”
Anna Carter Florence: 'Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God's Word in Community'
Drawing upon the metaphor of church as theater, a homiletics professor offers a novel way to read Scripture in community -- entering the text, encountering it, and coming back with something deep and true.
Jason Byassee: What the Avett Brothers tell us about goodness
The new film, “May It Last,” tells the story of the folk-rock band from North Carolina. But its real message is about virtue, says a theologian.

Gretchen E. Ziegenhals: Learning leadership through the metaphor of music
Years of watching her mother direct a chorus taught the author that leading a diverse community requires radical acceptance of all people, careful listening and a clear vision.

Milcah Lalam: Theater helped people heal from trauma in South Sudan
A Christian peace worker explains how drama, music and dance can help people struggling with deep trauma -- and why lament is healthy.
Excerpt from "Stakes Is High: Race, Faith, and Hope for America"
In this collection of columns written originally for The Huffington Post, the Rev. Michael W. Waters offers stories from the front lines and offers ways that he and others can live out their faith for the cause of social justice.
