By Shively Smith. Faith communities are uniquely positioned to help military families and veterans. It is so easy to read Mark and think of war as far off—especially if you are someone living in a neighborhood or region that has a semblance of peaceful times. For non-military families and organizations it is easy to miss that “wars and rumors of wars” mean families, perhaps right next door to us, are bracing for the possibility that parents or children may be... Read more
By Cari Jackson. The Alhambra Police Department in California created the Youth Diversion Program to keep kids in school and out of prison. In every moment, we are every age we have ever been, according to psychologist Carl Rogers. For me this means, our bodies are like a bus riding down the highway of life and all of the passengers are who we have been at every age. As we travel through life, somethings we see, hear and experience... Read more
By Lisa Davison. Sumter Faith Clinic is a free clinic to treat the uninsured and underinsured. Recognizing the incredible gap (between those with health insurance and those without it) in the health care system in their area, Nurse Practitioners Mary Wysochansky and Anna Stinchcum decided to do something to address the program. These two women founded and opened the Sumter Faith Clinic in Americus, GA. The clinic serves the uninsured and the underinsured in Sumter County, GA. Funded purely by... Read more
By Jaime Clark-Soles. The Interfaith Tour reveals what happens when you stop talking about the other and start talking to the other. Ignorance or intolerance of other religions continues to plague our world. I live in East Richardson, TX (a suburb of Dallas), which is highly diverse religiously and ethnically. The Islamic Association of North Texas is located here. Dallas has one of the largest Muslim populations and number of mosques in the nation. Yet, the call for Christians to... Read more
By Mihee Kim-Kort. Magdalene is a residential program that helps women who have survived lives of violence and prostitution. The emotional, physical, and spiritual violence that we inflict on one other is a sign that something is amiss in our world. The statistics from the World Health Organization on sex work and disease paint the terrible truth that sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse are on the rise across the globe. The sex and drug industry “will tear up women... Read more
By Sr. Simone Campbell. A 23-year-old Reading native struggles to find stable work that will allow her to maintain her apartment and support her family. I practiced family law in California for many years. I know the anguish of the breakup of a marriage. Often one spouse would come to me to try to untangle the legal mess of a marital relationship. What I noticed was how much ambivalence went into the process. So many wished that they could salvage... Read more
By Luke Powery. Safe Havens educates faith leaders on how to recognize and respond to domestic violence. There are many reasons for divorces and one of them is domestic violence. It’s true that there are women and men who experience domestic violence and never leave the marriage; they only want to cleave while others leave for their dear life. Domestic violence can be viewed as family violence but there are family members from whom we may rarely hear in these... Read more
By Amy Erickson. We asked people what they thought about Pope Francis. During his visit to Bolivia in July, the pope addressed an audience of farmers, trash-pickers, craftspeople, and un-unionized workers. He expressed his compassion for the poor and the marginalized and advocated passionately for them, but he did not stop there. As he did in his encyclical on climate change, the pope identified and condemned the systemic and structural causes of their suffering: the global idolization of capital and... Read more
By Cari Jackson. Europe is dealing with its worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Since 2011, more than 200,000 Syrians have died in the civil war. Close to 12 million, one-half of the Syrian population of 23 million, have been forced from their homes. More than 4 million have fled. What began as an act of civil protest has continued to expand to civil war, genocide, and mass exodus. It began as protest in response to the arrest and... Read more
By Walter Brueggemann. Five Things You Didn’t Know About Free Speech Around the World Many countries in the global community do not have the right to free speech. In the U.S., our right to speak out is protected under the Constitution. How well do we live up to the responsibility granted with that freedom? The Epistle of James is written to urge Christians to practice the ethic of Israel’s covenantal, prophetic tradition. In this particular text the apostle reflects... Read more
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