Most of the country probably didn’t notice. Unless you live in Virginia, New Jersey, a couple areas in New York, or maybe even Maine or Washington state, it’s quite possible you heard little about Tuesday’s elections. But to the chattering…
A story I have written about before and preached on time and time again recently took on new meaning for me. Every Saturday for years, the Sojourners Neighborhood Center would hand out a bag of groceries to nearly three hundred…
Every day churches across the country respond to the economic crisis by supporting families in need, assisting those in search of a job, and reaching out to people on the back streets of America. At no time is the credibility…
Last week, my wife Joy and I were front and center when Bill and Melinda Gates launched their new Living Proof campaign in Washington, D.C. I have to imagine that this campaign launch sounded a lot like one of Microsoft’s…
We’ve all been watching carefully as the Obama administration tries to decide how to move forward on U.S. policy in Afghanistan. And we’ve been listening to the arguments and counter-arguments being offered. Religious leaders in particular have been paying close…
Earlier this month, I was in Dallas for the official launch of Sojourners’ next Justice Revival. It’s the culmination of more than a year’s worth of organizing to unite more than 1,000 churches and 1 million Christians in the Dallas…
After nearly two years of collective scripture study, discernment, and dialogue, on Oct. 8 the National Association of Evangelicals spoke publicly for the first time in support of immigration reform. The resolution passed with no dissent from the 40 denominations…
Last week, a group of senators, many in the leadership of the majority Democratic Party, asked for a meeting with a small group of interfaith religious leaders. Their topic: climate change. The Senate now has a bill that will soon…
I got the first call at 6:30 a.m. from a reporter: “What’s your reaction to Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize?” “What?” I answered, and then had the presence of mind to say, “Call me back when I’m awake.” My…
Over the course of the health-care debate, voices of faith have been raised about the moral values at stake beneath the policy discussions. As bills are finalized and moved through both chambers of Congress, now more than ever we need…
Oh no, my eleven-year-old went to his first rock concert this week! Oh good, it was Bono and U2. That would express the feelings of many parents about their child’s introductory rock and roll concert experience. FedEx Field, where the…
With an issue like health, deeply personal, but of great public concern, the faith community has a unique and important role to play — to define and raise the moral issues beneath the policy debate. One major moral issue that…
This post responds to the following question posed on The Washington Post’s “On Faith” forum: Dozens of major religious groups and denominations are urging Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to renounce a Bush-era memo that allows faith-based charities that…
President Barack Obama delivered his first speech to the United Nations yesterday, speaking at the opening session of the General Assembly in New York.
He began by listing the policies of the U.S. government he has pursued in nine short months that…
Glenn Beck has received a lot of attention for his inflammatory rhetoric lately. Recently, he shared a personal story about his daughter who has cerebral palsy, which gets to the heart of his fears about health-care reform:
Here we go again. Some people raise the issue of race (this time about the ways others are talking about or treating the first black U.S. president) and the media goes crazy. “What racism?” many of the pundits cry. “Didn’t…
Did you see it? It wasn’t the leading story in TheNew York Times, TheWashington Post,or most other daily newspapers. I didn’t see a mention of it on the morning news shows either. Here’s what you might have missed: The newest Census…
In his speech last evening, President Barack Obama made the commitments that a broad coalition in the faith community had asked for — reform as a moral issue, affordable coverage for all, and no federal funding of abortion.
Cable news and the blogosphere heated up with a new controversy in the lead-up to a noon-time address that President Obama gave as a back-to-school message for students across the country. Jim Greer, Republican Party chairman of Florida, had this to…
