Word&Way Voices

Pastor Keith Herron explores the complex relationship between church growth and church health. This culminates in a barometer that begins with covenant and moves toward mission and purpose in order to define what a healthy church looks like.

Columnist Ken Satterfield explains the duality of our attitude toward passwords: In the Kingdom of Should, we know we should come up with strong passwords and not use the same password for multiple accounts. In the Kingdom of But, we know all of this, but we still pick the names of our children, pets, significant dates, and favorite teams.

Attorney and alum Russell Jackson responds to the news that trustees at Southwest Baptist University decided last week to drop their court petition seeking approval for new governing articles.

Columnist Sarah Blackwell discusses how can we better discern when to open our mouths or when to keep them shut — particularly on social media. This means exploring the question: when is saying nothing the path to winning? 

Columnist Rodney Kennedy weaves together a discussion of 1 Corinthians 8, where Paul’s subject is whether Christians should eat meat offered to idols, with the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre to help us better understand the current ideological debate surrounding public health measures.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games the world witnessed Simone Biles, one of the greatest athletes of all time, defend not the gold medal but her own mental health. She is breaking the silence about mental illness while in the global spotlight. This deserves a gold medal in columnist Sarah Griffith Lund's book.

Columnist Rodney Kennedy explores the values that are necessary for us to move beyond our current political moment. He asks if we can have a patriotism that rises above petty differences, respects a diversity of opinions, and works for the common good.

Sean Taylor explains his theological support for COVID-19 vaccination and details what happened when he urged his congregation to get vaccinated from the pulpit. He believes that for the church, the issue is not ultimately about safety or government conspiracies. Instead, the question should be “where is Jesus?”

Darron Edwards explores what repentance should look like for America's sin of racism. This means acknowledging the shortcomings of the country instead of hiding behind pride in national symbols. Only then can we live up to our ideals.

Columnist Sarah Blackwell examines why some churches who claim to be focused on resurrecting the model of the early church are some of the least likely to regularly participate in communion. She then discusses some ways we can find new life in the important ritual.