Features
The United Methodist divorce is a mistake
Caucusing is easy. Church is hard.
Frederick Buechner’s many benedictions
Buechner never stopped searching his own life for clues to the presence of God.
From international student to refugee
Fleeing Ukraine and resettling elsewhere has been difficult—especially for African nationals.
Who is the mother of Israel?
In the Hebrew Bible, God’s love is maternal.
Ron Sider’s deep faith
The Evangelicals for Social Action founder is remembered for living the gospel he professed.
Solidarity with student workers?
Several church bodies have adopted prolabor statements. The actions of their affiliated schools often tell another story.
The World Council of Churches in wartime
The grim future of communion with the Russian Orthodox Church
Practicing abolitionist spirituality
What are we willing to sacrifice for racial justice?
Talking to my Russian friends about Ukraine
I had close friendships in Russia. Then Putin went to war.
What does it mean to be a green church during a climate crisis?
It’s a way of life. But it starts small.
Pastors, like everyone else, need paid family and medical leave
When I was diagnosed with cancer, I was shocked to find I had no paid leave or legal job protection.
When my dad killed God
My dad, Bill Hamilton, was a beloved divinity school professor. That all changed when God died and we got run out of town.
Is God still dead?
The legacy of 1960s radical theology
My mother said she was pro-life—and worked at Planned Parenthood
There will always be people like her, who are willing to tell the truth that life is choice.
A letter to my Black daughter after the fall of Roe
Your body is not a public domain.
When abortion is mere abstraction
What’s missing from the debate is the wisdom of first-hand experience.
Where our deep sadness and the world’s deep hunger meet
Sometimes vocation springs not from joy but from trauma and grief.
What I left out of my mother’s funeral sermon
I told the truth about her but not the whole truth.
Black men I’ve mourned
I’ve preached more than 800 funeral sermons. Many of these deaths have marked me.
Preaching in the valley of actual death
My task at funerals is to share the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.