Charles Howard

April 11, 2012 marked the one-year anniversary of the launching of Joining Forces, an initiative led by first lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden that champions wellness, education, and employment among military service members and their families -- opportunities they all have earned many times over.

In...

I have always loved water. Growing up, my friend Chris and I would spend hours of each day playing by and in a creek that ran near our apartment complex. I loved trying to balance on the rocks and watching the little crayfish swim by, but I especially loved those...

The phrase "I am Trayvon Martin" has been repeated by demonstrators, posted as status updates and tweets, and whispered by young black men and women walking the streets of our nation knowing that sadly they too may "look suspicious."

I and many others can't help but weep at saying the...

I imagine. An invitation from the front. A voice carries all the way to the back of the sanctuary and touches our ears. Courage. Heschel said it felt like his legs were praying. And me too. We stand with legs carrying us, congregation praising for us, and angels rejoicing above...

Dinner with family. Exchanging presents. Lighting candles. Caroling. Vacation. Parties. Fireworks!

How will you celebrate the holidays this year? We often forget that we have a choice about how we will observe the national, cultural and religious holidays that make up this "most wonderful time of the year." But what...

Sitting at a table close to the door of his popular Philadelphia restaurant Amis, a man whose name is synonymous with culinary excellence, leans forward and says;

"Food can empower...it can inspire change. It can build community."

Marc Vetri -- a...

Real talk. Real walk. She occupies with grace, with fearlessness, and with a critical refusal that only comes after years in the struggle.

"We must never give up." She says in the Ivy League auditorium.

"We must never give up" she says among occupiers outside of City Hall.

What does...

Leadership is best cultivated in dialogue -- the same place where we meet and get to know friends, fall in love, and learn of the world. And dialogue is where growth, healing, and inspiration occur. It is one of the great gifts of humanity. Along with a heart to serve,...

I've known them for a long time. We've been friends for years. Shared laughs, went to each other's weddings, had play dates for our kids. We're close and I share that not simply for full disclosure, but because it colors my perspective on this most inspiring story. I'm not...

Professor Kirk Byron Jones messed me up. In a good way. His Jazz of Preaching class that I so joyfully attended during my second year of seminary at Andover Newton, was a symphony of holy mischief with each class session simultaneously graying and clarifying where the believer may...

Philadelphia has long been known for its music scene, both as a place where great music has originated and as a destination for travelling musicians to come and share their talents with a city of music lovers. Lady Day and The Duke use to come through regularly. All the Gospel...

The cold metal doors of the subway car open for a merciless 9 seconds. She pushes, lifts, and drags her 3 children, stroller and bags onto the train. The smallest one is crying. Loudly. Exhausted eyes veil a whirlpool of embarrassment, anger, hurt, desperation, and thoughts about whomever or whatever...

It was a beautiful day. I and 70,000 of my closest friends filled Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to hear, watch and experience a much-anticipated U2 concert. Our seats were terrible. Well, they were amazing seats in that being just a few rows from the top of the stadium, we...

June 16 is an emotional day for me. It was on a sunny June 16 in 1989 that my mother died in my arms while visiting relatives in Plainfield, N.J. Thus, every year around that time, my partner understands why I am a little more quiet and reserved. I pass...

It is difficult to understand the experience of parents of special needs children. Unless you have received that phone call from a doctor explaining to you that your child will live a life far different than you imagined when you first found out you were pregnant, it's hard to know...

The place of honor in my office library is eye-level, on either the fourth or fifth shelves up from the bottom. This prime literary real estate is reserved for my favorite theologians, poets, historical figures, underlined and high-lighted classics in Black literature, and dog-eared spiritual writings that are occasionally lent...

I -- like many of you, I imagine -- find myself challenged by the state of our educational system. I regret the high dropout rates and low graduation rates. I am stunned by schools that have as high as 75 percent of their students not reading at expected proficiency levels....

Is it possible for one's whole life to be a sermon? The life and witness of Peter Gomes would seem to be evidence that it is. Not just the classic sermons that have been collected into much beloved volumes, but all of the adventures, relationships, victories, trials and journeys all...

During the month of February, cries of disappointment in our education system have been made by a number of Philadelphia youth. In one neighborhood, students staged a walk-out in an effort to get their voices heard over what they see as a long list of unacceptable conditions in their high...

Since January 25, the words of the old spiritual "Go Down Moses" have haunted me. When I was first taught this song I sang it remembering my ancestors who escaped the chains and dehumanizing cruelty of slavery centuries ago. Yet, over the last several days, as I and the rest...