Just try to hide when you visit “Mother Emanuel” African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. They welcome you from the pulpit and ask you to stand. They hand you a microphone so you can give your name and your hometown. Then everyone sings Emanuel’s own welcome song, “Mother Emanuel Welcomes You.” As the song puts it,…
The Parables of Church
In the church planting program we talk about theory. The Church Planting Initiative cohort at Pittsburgh Seminary was recently discussing liturgy and the fact that it forms us. We were naming the ways people respond unexpectedly and how people handle being in community with those who are different from them. We talked a lot about the work…
Reinhold Niebuhr’s Challenge to His Context and Ours
Reinhold Niebuhr is considered one of the towering theologians and public intellectuals of the 20th century. His books are still widely read, he is frequently quoted, he has often served as an important point of reference for leaders of all sorts (including many recent U.S. presidents)—and most recently he has become the subject of a…