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Young people are trained through social media to graze. But an annual practice of opening Advent calendars can help them learn to gaze, imagining the world as it could be and not just as it is.
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Like the storm-cellar vigils of his childhood in West Texas, Pentecost is wild and unpredictable, always hard and most always scary, a pastor says. We don’t know what might happen, but we know we’ll be changed.
Visitors at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which, according to tradition, is the site of Jesus' empty tomb. Bigstock / Kirill4mula
In this sermon from an Easter Vigil, the author says the disciples gathered after the horrific events of Good Friday because they needed each other. And they needed to know what the God who had breathed life from dust might do next.
Madonna and Child by Fra Angelico
This Christmas, what are we as church leaders painting, praying, preaching, proclaiming or prophesying that will endure for another 500 years? Are we conveying the hope of the Christ child that keeps us alive despite the darkness that threatens to overwhelm us?
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After years of looking for his one true vocation, a seminary professor of Christian spirituality considers an alternative picture of vocation. What if it’s not a single star we should follow but a constellation?
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As Advent begins, we stand once again amid the destruction left by devastating storms. In the darkness, we yearn for light, a UMC bishop writes.
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Despite their reputation, rats -- at least the domesticated variety -- are warm, empathetic companions who challenge the lines we draw between “lovable” and “unworthy,” says an Episcopal priest. Remember them and other unpopular pets this St. Francis Day.
The UNC Tar Heels celebrate their NCAA national championship victory after defeating Gonzaga 71-65 on April 3, 2017. Daily Tar Heel photograph by Nathan Klima
The UNC Tar Heels wanted to redeem their devastating 2016 NCAA men’s basketball championship loss. In winning this year, they accomplished their goal, but they did not change history, writes a managing director at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
The traditional elements of a Turkish bath include a bath bowl, soap and peshtamal. Bigstock / Uwphotographer
Footwashing makes us feel vulnerable, as vulnerable as an Episcopal priest felt on a visit to a ‘hamam’ in Istanbul. But maybe that’s the point, she writes -- vulnerability is the paradoxical source of Christians’ strength.
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This worship service is based on Puerto Rican Christmas traditions, which include joyful gatherings of friends and family, music, and a soup called asopao.