Church

The Reconstructing Evangelicalism conference, which drew about 400 pastors and other church leaders to Calvary Memorial Church in the Chicago suburbs, was inspired by a recent trend among evangelicals and other Protestants to “deconstruct” the faith they grew up with — examining core beliefs and often rejecting the conservative politics, sexism, and racial divides evangelicalism has come to be known for.

Andy Wood outlined his grand vision to build on Warren’s legacy and take Saddleback to the biggest cities in the U.S. and the world. He said he’ll encourage men and women to preach — an approach at odds with the male-leadership policies of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, a longtime Missouri Republican politician and Episcopal priest, urged those attending a Methodist church in Kansas to not make an idol out of politics. Danforth also warned of the dangers of “holy war” politics as he spoke virtually on Sunday at the Church of the Resurrection, a large United Methodist congregation that has multiple locations in the Kansas City metro area.

The Hamilton-Garrett Center for Music and Arts in the Roxbury neighborhood in Boston has been for the past year a recipient of funds through a Negro Spiritual Royalties Project of the nearby United Parish in Brookline. It is one of at least a dozen churches and organizations across the country committed to monetarily acknowledging spirituals that have been sung for centuries.

Before attending the packed Sunday morning service, Queen Sonja of Norway praised Mindekirken congregation for having maintained worship in Norwegian for all 100 years that the church has existed in Minneapolis.

Rev. Jonathan Lee Walton, an academician, preacher and administrator who has served on the faculties of Wake Forest and Harvard divinity schools, has been named the next president of Princeton Theological Seminary. He will be the first Black president of the seminary.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we introduce you to an effort earlier this month by ministers across the country to preach against Christian Nationalism on World Communion Sunday. We then take you to church to hear excerpts from the sermons before we issue an altar call of our own. 

The Native American International Caucus, which advocates for Native Americans both inside and outside of the UMC, is calling on lawmakers to get rid of Columbus Day. To replace the federal holiday, which this year falls on Oct. 10, the caucus is asking Congress to approve several bills formalizing Indigenous Peoples Day as a legal public holiday, according to a statement from the caucus posted on it website Tuesday.

Liz Cooledge Jenkins unpacks the hypocrisy in voicing support for Iranian women who protest oppressive patriarchy in their context while remaining strangely silent about oppressive patriarchy — and even hostile to those who speak up against it — in our own U.S. context. People in complementarian churches often hear feminist critique and feel like the good-hearted men in their lives are being personally attacked.

Though many congregations in the U.S. are relatively homogeneous, others are sharply divided. In some cases, divisions are becoming more pronounced as midterm election season heats up, leaving clergy to keep the peace while still meeting the spiritual needs of all of their members.