Features
18 ways churches can fight sexual assault in 2018
Read the main article, “A pastor's #MeToo story.”
1. Maintain and update safe church child protection policies.
2. Require all leaders to take boundary training, even non-ordained leaders.
3. Post domestic violence and sexual violence hotline numbers in church restrooms.
4. Teach the warning signs of domestic abuse and abuse of children in the church newsletter or bulletin.
5. Intentionally use the words sexual violence in the liturgy—for example, in a prayer of confession.
A pastor's #MeToo story
The mortgage interest deduction subsidizes housing for people who don't need the help
Books
The value of apocalypse
A novel that charts a spiritual transformation
H. K. Bush's tale revolves around the challenges of a Western academic's encounter with the East.
The stubborn love and inflexible mercy of Dorothy Day
More than a memoir, Kate Hennessy's book about her grandmother is a participant biography written from the inside out.
Two old friends have a lively conversation about getting old
Martha Nussbaum and Saul Levmore draw from philosophy, literature, economics, and public policy to ruminate on aging.
The Witness of Preaching after three decades
To teach preaching, I need the witness of Tom Long—and others, too.
The focus and function of The Witness of Preaching
Some of the book's strengths are also its limitations.
Crisis and opportunity in the American Catholic Church
Massimo Faggioli is the most articulate interpreter of U.S. Catholicism today.
Departments
A birthday present in the manger scene
The key of David and other Advent images
Madres de Plaza de Mayo, by Amy Whiten
Some bright spots in 2017
Why people still speak Guaraní
News
Pastors play role in Zimbabwe’s change of power
A priest mediated. The council of churches called for national dialogue. And a Pentecostal pastor organized a large-scale protest.
Tabitha Isner, a Disciples minister, runs for a seat in the U.S. House
Pastoral care is at the heart of a representative's job, says Isner, who is campaigning in Alabama's second congressional district.
Small religious college closes as others struggle to survive
St. Gregory’s University in Oklahoma will close in December. It's the latest small religious college to close in an increasingly competitive market.
Mumbai museum challenges India's self-image, rising intolerance
"There is no such thing as a singular Indian identity," says curator Naman Ahuja.
Iraq's Shi'ite pilgrimage to martyr's tomb reveres recently slain fighters too
Nearly 14 million people marched to Imam Hussein's shrine in Karbala this year.
Harriet Tubman’s Canadian church seeks help for repairs
Visitors provide income for the congregation, but it needs further funds to address its shifting foundation.
Milwaukee pastor leads ministry linking inner-city workers with jobs outside the city
Jerome Smith Sr. runs the Joseph Project, an effort to address two big problems: high urban unemployment and the distance between where the jobless live and where jobs are.