I pull myself out of bed at 6 a.m., feeling guilty and frustrated as my feet touch the carpet. The alarm first cut through my fog of sleep at 4:30 a.m., at which time I intended to dash off a dozen emails, pay the bills and draft a book proposal,...

Don't ask the crocus, "Where is God?"
as though the crocus can respond to
our cries echoing over the flower beds.
The purple blooms have done their best
to disguise the traces of our bitter violence;
their job is not to soothe our seething conscience.

I am increasingly convinced that there are three kinds of churches -- three prevailing characters of congregations, with implicit theological underpinnings -- and that these three church types exist across denominations and worship styles, from small churches to megachurches, in rural and urban settings alike. As I see it, these...

Ah, Advent! Along with Christmas, Advent is the glorious and only time of year when Christians across the theological spectrum can agree on women's participation in God's work.

In Advent, we do not exclude women from signaling God's presence (Isaiah 7:14). Let the day arrive when the whole Church* welcomes...

Unless you live in New Jersey or New York City, where power and transportation remain severely disrupted and whole neighborhoods have become islands of ruin, life around the U.S. East Coast is returning to normal. There are still those without electricity throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions, to be...

I'm tired of reading bad ordination papers: 12 to 20 pages of poorly written, theologically thin, unimaginative discourse, intended to represent a ministerial candidate's breadth of preparedness and depth of spiritual formation but more frequently sending me into despair over the future of leadership in the Church.

If it sounds...

A quick glance at the religious, political and socioeconomic landscapes of the United States easily reveals steeply increasing divisions and polarizations. Is your state blue or red? Do you identify yourself as "right" or "left," Republican or Democrat? Are you earning more than $1,000,000 or less...

In central Pennsylvania, where I grew up, Penn State is big. Huge. Penn State sports dominate the local news. Many area high school graduates aspire to attend Penn State's main campus. The Nittany Lion logo is everywhere. Whenever I drive home for a visit, the PSU blue-and-white bumper stickers on...

Dear Christians, both wounded and worried, leaders and laity, trend-watchers, naysayers, pastors, and all who pray for the Church's health and behavior to improve...

Departure is a sensitive and greatly feared concern in Christian congregations and denominations. Churches and pastors don't want their parishioners to leave. Denominations fret when churches...

In every generation, people have told stories in order to make sense of life: its purpose, its disasters, its relationships, its unknowns. Each religion has its own stories that people of faith remember and hand down through rituals and sacred texts. Often, those stories are reimagined as they are retold...

"What's that I smell in the air? The American Dream! Sweet as a new millionaire: the American Dream! Pre-packed, ready-to-wear, the American Dream. And best of all, it's for sale! The American Dream!" (Boublil and Schonberg, Miss Saigon. 1989)

The American Dream is a common motif in an election year,...

Please join the HuffPost community in "A Lenten Journey" for reflections throughout Lent, and join our online Lenten community here.

It begins for me on Ash Wednesday, as soft black palm ashes smear on my thumb and I meet each congregant's eye to say honestly, "Remember...