Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on why our kids need church in ways that extend far beyond Bible stories and learning to be nice. There is no doubt our teens are being overcome by waves of anxiety, loneliness, and self-doubt – so how can the local church help without being just “one more thing” that teens have to keep up with or feel obligated to?

Contributing writer Greg Mamula offers the inaugural entry of a six-part series on the future of the church. In this first article, he focuses on how we should allow the full narrative of Scripture to shape our holy imaginations.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy explores why so many people have deserted their churches. He argues that many people are simply caught up in the currents of a secular age and have been swept away without a whimper of protest.

Kristel Clayville examines a recent New York Times guest essay where Tish Harrison Warren talked with Prof. Charlie Camosy about the “secularization of medicine.” Having worked in religiously affiliated higher education, seminaries, and churches, Clayville argues that hospitals are actually the places where she has seen and experienced the most open displays of religion and spirituality.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that as we feel the pace of the world quickening again, it is our obligation to fight the urge to keep up. Reconnecting to our wonder allows us to spend time with God in a way that is not transactional.

Juliet Vedral wishes she had Alicia Akins’ new book, Invitations to Abundance: How the Feasts of the Bible Nourish Us Today, to spark her imagination during a period of financial uncertainty and stress-related health issues. Besides the book’s rich theological content, it is a gorgeous work of literature – a feast in and of itself.

Lauren Graeber contemplates a pattern she has noticed: when writing on social media as a spiritual practice she is not talking about God as much by name. Is it possible that using explicitly Christian language is sometimes a barrier to inviting folks to engage with God?

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell examines how the technology that rests at our fingertips can be used as a spiritual practice. After all, many of us only made it through the isolation of the pandemic because of some well-timed memes on group chats.

Darron LaMonte Edwards argues that our response to the murder of George Floyd as well as the ongoing global pandemic amount to best understanding this moment as a failed group project. This means it is time to critically reflect on the past 24-25 months so we can have an honest conversation about missed opportunities.

Palestinian journalist and media activist Daoud Kuttab details his experience being detained in Jordan because of his reporting. His primary concern is that other less experienced journalists will see what happened to him and begin practicing self-censorship.