Recently I was blessed to join in a ceremony on behalf of theProgressive Christian Alliance church where I serve, Diversity in Faith: A Christian Church for All People. We as a church laid hands on Jowancka Mintz, a woman whom the church felt God calling them to set aside as a pastor in the church. Jowancka’s ordination came after living as a person whose faith had been forged and strengthened in the face of persecution and discrimination folks face in the south... Read more

When scholar and priest William Tyndale decided to translate the Bible into English in the 1520s, he set out on a dangerous journey that eventually led him to be burned at the stake. At the time, the only authorised Bible in England was a 4th Century Latin version, and translations were forbidden. Tyndale’s crime was an intense desire to see his fellow countrymen read the Bible in their own language. Five hundred years later, Bible societies around the world are pursuing the... Read more

In 1996, noted criminologist Jewel asked a question that has long haunted those hoodlums prone to pondering the existential consequences of their actions: “Who will save your souls after those lies that you told, boy?” For generations of American crooks, the answer has been “religious do-gooders.” As a 2006 Federal Bureau of Prisons report put it, “faith groups have become involved in offering formal programs within prison to bring about not only the spiritual salvation of the inmates but their rehabilitation in the... Read more

Before his death in a 2012 shooting incident, Chris Kyle was famous in the United States for having personally killed 255 Iraqis during his time as a sniper deployed there. His number of recorded “kills” made him the most lethal sniper in US military history. Upon returning home, his memoir American Sniper would go on to sell more than a million copies and become a New York Times bestseller. Kyle’s popularity was enough that acclaimed director Steven Spielberg is producing a movie based on his life. American Sniper begins... Read more

by Andre E. Johnson R3 Editor Read Part 1 here This summer for two weeks at Memphis Theological Seminary, I get to teach “Rhetoric of Race: The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement.”  In this class, we engage in a careful reading of major sermons, speeches, and writings during the Civil Rights Era (1954-1965). From this, by grounding ourselves in rhetorical and other communication theories and practices, we examine the contributions of significant people to the movement by examining the ways... Read more

A decade ago, the Southern Baptist Convention was riding high. The president of the United States was a conservative evangelical Christian who personally addressed the group’s annual meetings, either by satellite or video, at least four times in two terms, and SBC leaders were feeling their influence at the highest levels of government. Ten years later, as members prepare for their 2013 annual meeting in Houston on Tuesday, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination finds itself in flux: It has less... Read more

by Andre E. Johnson Chaplain Henry McNeal Turner R3 Editor *This is the third of a four part series. Read the other installments here However, despite the fact the Turner was in the middle of a war and was very busy ministering to his troops and handling the daily affairs of his position, he still had an eye on church matters. He called for the merging of the AMEand AME Zion churches, a position he maintain throughout his life and he also... Read more

Religious belief continues to be an important factor in opposition to societal acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Overall, the share of Americans who say that homosexuality should be accepted by society has increased from 47% to 60% over the past decade, while the percentage saying it should be discouraged has fallen from 45% to 31%. Yet among those who attend religious services weekly or more, there continues to be slightly more opposition than support for societal acceptance of homosexuality.... Read more

When commended for being a “pillar of the Church,” Winston Churchill supposedly once replied that he was “not a pillar of the Church but a flying buttress, supporting it from the outside.” There are more and more Americans taking this Churchillian approach to religion. A new Gallup poll found that 75 percent of Americans believe the country would be better off if religion had more influence—including many who themselves aren’t religious: Over half of those who seldom or never attend [church] and... Read more

Picture this: You wake up far too early one morning because your hand is intensely painful and you don’t know why. When the pain gets worse, you go to the ER. The attending doctor, a gray-haired man, examines you, draws blood, and then tells you an unusual flesh-eating infection in your finger is putting your health at risk. He recommends amputating the hand immediately before the infection causes more harm. What he doesn’t tell you is that at this early... Read more