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June 30, 2021

Volume 138, Issue #13

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Features

First Person

How I came to love embodied prayer

I tried it—and I began to experience God in places other than my head.

by Mindy Roll

First Person

Seven things I learned by teaching a Me Too Bible class

Scripture is filled with sexual violence. So, we learned, are our own lives.

by Mary Beth McSwain

Critical Essay

How the midwives Shiphrah and Puah mock the violence of empire

They use Pharaoh’s tools to dismantle oppression.

by Kat Armas

Critical Essay

“Dad, why does Deuteronomy 20 talk about killing the boys and girls?”

My daughter wants to know. Even as a biblical scholar, I don’t have a good answer.

by Matthew Schlimm

Reflection

Karl Barth’s wisdom for fathers (and mothers, and all children of God)

Before you had a human parent, you had a perfect one.

by Matt Fitzgerald

Books

Living a simplified life in France

Eric Freeze and his family moved to Nice—in order to spend less and live better.

by Jeanne Murray Walker

Rachel Gross wants to blur the distinction between Jewish culture and Jewish religion

Being Jewish goes beyond the synagogue.

by Jon Sweeney

Drawing close to Howard Thurman

Two new books invite us to learn from what others have loved about the civil rights icon.

by Heidi Haverkamp

When radical Latino activists occupied churches

Felipe Hinojosa profiles resistance movements from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when religion and politics were inextricably linked.

by Jeannine Marie Pitas

Departments

Will the looming fertility bust destroy religion?

As the global population ages, it’s unclear what will bind people to faith.

by Philip Jenkins

From the Editors

Americans need robust local news outlets

Democracy is about membership in a local community. It can’t flourish without local journalism.

On Art

Grandfather, by Fouad Agbaria

Known for art that blends cultural history, landscape, and pattern work, Fouad Agbaria offers Palestinian narratives often left untold in the media....

art selection and comment by Lil Copan

First Words

The distortions of the God Bless the USA Bible

The conflation of Christianity and American patriotism has never done either one any favors.

by Peter W. Marty

Faith Matters

The grace of holding my dying father’s hand during the pandemic

The word contagion comes from the Latin words for “with” and “touch.”

by Debra Dean Murphy

News

People

Influential United Methodist bishop Daniel C. Arichea Jr. dies at 87

(Photo courtesy of the United Methodist Council of Bishops)

by Heather Hahn

Canadian official: pope should apologize to First Nations

Canada’s Indigenous services minister has asked Pope Francis to issue a formal apology for the role the Catholic Church played in Canada’s residential school system after the remains of 215 children were located at what was once the country’s larg...

by Rob Gillies

Number of mosques in US grows, but Black mosques in decline

Increasing numbers of Black American mosques are closing, while the overall number of mosques in the United States continues to grow, according to a new report....

by Joseph Hammond

Anglican hospital in Gaza cares for wounded during fighting between Israel and Hamas

In May, tensions over the evictions of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem boiled over into 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas....

by David Paulsen

AME school Wilberforce University cancels debt for 2020, 2021 grads

There are usually lots of cheers and applause at university commencements....

by Adelle M. Banks

How United Methodists around the world find faith through beekeeping

Jay Williams says he never feels more connected to the earth and to God than when he’s “surrounded by a million venomous insects.”...

by Crystal Caviness

People

Chicago Catholic priest reinstated after past sex abuse allegations

Five months after allegations of past sexual abuse first were made against him, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has concluded there is “insufficient reason to suspect” Michael Pfleger is guilty of the allegations....

by Emily McFarlan Miller

People

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago postpones consecration of bishop-elect after brain bleed

The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago has postponed the consecration and ordination of Paula E. Clark, both the first African American and the first woman elected to lead the diocese, after Clark suffered a brain bleed in April....

by Emily McFarlan Miller