By Warren Nelson  |  30 May 2019  | No, this isn’t an ode to Hunter S. Thompson’s novel about Vegas. It’s about me and my relationship to the persecution complex that came from being, for more than half of my life, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and thus one of “the elect.” One […]

by Carrol Grady and Bryan Ness  |  28 May 2019  | Carrol: It was 30-plus years ago, when my husband and I were employed at the General Conference, that I first received the shocking news that one of our dearly beloved sons is gay. At that time, I knew next to nothing about homosexuality, but […]

Kris Coffin Stevenson  |  25 May 2019  | “I don’t know if you realize this,” she whispered in my ear, a gray-haired saint leaning over the pew, “but you’re chewing gum.” As the newbie wife of a pastor, I had prioritized coming to each meeting of the evangelistic series despite my full-time job and long […]

by Richard W. Coffen  |  22 May 2019  |   Sabbath, April 6—Hands on my wristwatch pointed to 9:25. Sabbath school class discussion would soon commence. George, with his Santa Claus white beard, sat in his usual corner. Snowbird Sylvia, a devout Catholic, had donned her best go-to-church dress. Beth, another snowbird, looked spiffy in her […]

by Dorcas Daboni  |  21 May 2019  |   As I placed my empty potluck dish into my bag, my coworker mentioned that my boyfriend must be a lucky man. I reluctantly admitted that I was unattached. Immediately I was surrounded with other nurses giving me advice on dating, and relationships in general. I chuckle to […]

by Stephen Ferguson  |  20 May 2019  | I have just finished reading the 128-page Theology of Ordination Study Committee Report (TOSC Report) – better late than never. I am naturally inclined towards supporting women’s ordination (WO) and mostly agreed with those arguments. However, I surprisingly found the anti-WO position was not entirely without merit.[1] […]

By W. Milton Adams  |  15 May 2019  | Urban cultures are influenced by a developing global, web-based culture which rejects traditional institutions and demands decentralization of authority. Individuals are inclined to find a direct path to what they want and traditional structures are often perceived as obstacles. Therefore, the church, as a result of […]

by Elle Berry  |  16 May 2019  | I’m not sure if you have heard—but chivalry is dead. Or at least this is an often-voiced concern I hear from certain quadrants of the populace, perhaps as a distressed pushback to the alleged feminist agenda. So far as I understand the matter, there is a mounting […]

by Benjamin Baker  |  15 May 2019  |   The tragic murder of Ermias Joseph Asghedom, popularly known as Nipsey Hussle, on March 31 of this year sent shockwaves through the hip hop, African American, and African diaspora communities, as well as Nipsey’s hometown of Los Angeles, California. Nipsey had gained some renown as a gangster […]

By Loren Seibold with Monte Sahlin  |  13 May 2019  |   Like most pastors, I’ve sat in church board meetings looking through membership lists, asking “Who are all these people who are supposed to be my church members, who I’ve never seen or heard of?” I’m not a pastor who thinks we need to rush […]

Rebecca Brothers  |  11 May 2019  |   I don’t know how it happens, but it seems like every time I am tempted to give up on religion, it’s time for me to go to work. Not my regular job as a college librarian. There are no existential crises there; just the occasional moral dilemma regarding […]