ANNAPOLIS, Md. — All the Rev. Mel White, Jacob Reitan and the rest of their Soulforce team wanted to do was talk to people. That was the good news. The bad news was that they wanted to talk about God, politics and homosexuality, although not necessarily in that order. It also didn’t help that the people they wanted to talk to were midshipmen on the U.S. Naval Academy campus — on a football-weekend Friday, no less. “Free speech is free... Read more
NASHVILLE — The crowd was dancing as soon as the bluegrass trio Nickel Creek went on stage, with hot-shot mandolinist Chris Thile careening around like a possessed marionette. The opening number “When in Rome” was an edgy tale about lost souls trapped in a cold world where the doctors can’t heal, people burn books for heat and no one answers distress signals. By the time Thile reached the apocalyptic last verse, he was raising questions about life, death and life... Read more
As a World War I veteran, Oxford don C.S. Lewis was accustomed to nightmares about bloody trenches, bayonets, poison gas and the bite of shrapnel in his chest. But the dreams that began in the late 1940s were different. Some were frightening and some were beautiful and, as he described them to family and friends, they involved lions, especially a giant lion that had a regal, yet wild personality. Soon, Lewis began weaving these images into a story that also... Read more
When it comes to nightlife in Washington, D.C., Dupont Circle is one of the places where people go to be seen. So Amy Welborn wasn’t surprised to see familiar faces while visiting the hot spots with a friend in the late 1970s. It was easy to spot the Catholic University seminarians — with their girlfriends — even though the future priests were not wearing clerical garb. “It was the spirit of the times,” said Welborn, now a popular Catholic writer... Read more
It isn’t shocking when leaders of the Human Rights Campaign praise people who have taken stands to back the civil rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals. But it certainly raised eyebrows when the gay-rights group publicly thanked the Rev. Jerry Falwell. The result was an odd little news story that, at first glance, made about as much sense as the Southern Baptist Convention throwing a party for its friends at the Walt Disney Co. The story began with Falwell defending... Read more
CHICAGO — When it comes to the digital world, David Merwin is a native. He knows the laws and lingo. Along with his BetaChurch.org colleagues, Merwin believes the World Wide Web can bring people together and spread new ideas. But when it comes to analyzing the impact of the new “information technology” (natives say “IT”) on many churches, he has some doubts. “Lots of people are jumping into online ministry because they see that everybody else is doing it,” he... Read more
Wherever they go, preachers are asked to stand up and pray. The Rev. Joe McKeever is the missions director for a Southern Baptist regional association, which is rather like being bishop of a flock that doesn’t believe in bishops. This means that he gets asked to pray even more than the next guy with a Bible. McKeever says yes — on one condition. Before the prayer, he insists on delivering a mini-sermon he calls, “What New Orleans and Heaven Have... Read more
It was hard for businessman Jim Russell to pick up his local newspaper without thinking about one simple church statistic. According to the Yellow Pages, there were 400 churches in and around Lansing, Mich. That meant there were 400-plus ministers and many thousands of lay people who either read the newspaper or decided not to. Surely, he thought, these readers must have some kind of reaction to what they saw in the news. Yet Russell kept looking — usually without... Read more
NEW YORK — When it comes to real-life exorcisms, movie director Scott Derrickson has read the transcripts and studied stacks of tapes. He didn’t see heads spin 360 degrees or volcanoes of pea-soup vomit. He was, in the end, convinced that demons are real. The results went into “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” a chilling movie that Derrickson hopes will make believers think twice about what they believe and doubters have doubts about their doubts. “The research phase was horrible,”... Read more
Political strategist James Carville said it, candidate Bill Clinton believed it and loyal Democrats have chanted this mantra ever since. And all the people said: “It’s the economy, stupid.” But what if an elite team of Democrats ventured outside the Beltway to talk to rural and red-zone voters in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Colorado and Kentucky and learned that the economic bottom line was no longer the political bottom line? Focus-group researchers from the Democracy Corp in Washington, D.C., found that voters... Read more
Terry Mattingly
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