Dr. Jon Kocmond looks at photos of his family in his home office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kocmond lost his 16-year-old son, Nathan, to suicide in the fall of 2017. He has since been active in the suicide support group at Christ Episcopal Church. Photos by Wendy Yang
A 6,400-member congregation in North Carolina has created a “wellness director” position after experiencing six suicides in five years.
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Community and connection are the antidotes to loneliness, says an educator and writer. Hospitality can help bring about that healing.
At dinner table churches like Simple Church, simple meals and breadmaking facilitate deep conversations and communal friendship. Photo courtesy of Simple Church
The hope of the church lies in a commitment to feast with one another, writes the author of the new book, “We Will Feast.”
Photo illustration by Jessamyn Rubio
An associate pastor discovers the joy of accompanying people across actual thresholds with liturgical loving care.
The Rev. Dr. Heber M. Brown III has leveraged his church's garden into a multi-state network that connects black churches, black-owned farms, markets and consumers. Photos courtesy of Black Church Food Security Network
The Black Church Food Security Network promotes long-term economic empowerment among black farmers and congregations while addressing issues of health, food accessibility and self-determination.
Ulysses Burley III lights a candle during an interfaith prayer service during the 2016 International AIDS Conference. Photo courtesy of Ulysses Burley III
We cannot cure HIV in the United States without people of faith standing up against the stigma, the founder of a faith and human rights organization, UBtheCure, says.
Earlier this year, Alfred Street Baptist Church encouraged people to participate in a churchwide fast called "Seek 2019." Image courtesy of Alfred Street Baptist Church
More than 4,000 members of Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, committed to a new spiritual discipline earlier this year.
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When a Michigan pastor realized that his accountability group was too big, he came up with a new solution -- pairs.
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Theological education is invaluable to those who suffer and care for the suffering, says a professor of theology who teaches nursing students.
Like runners, ministers benefit when they learn healthy habits that allow them to pause and experience restoration from concerns and fatigue and be refilled by the spirit of God. Bigstock/Dean Drobot
Theological training doesn’t offer ministers everything they need to flourish. Pastoral peer groups that develop additional competencies can fill the gap, writes a minister who is director of ministry outreach at Pepperdine University.