This Online Articles area (formerly our Library) gathers reflections, op-eds, and essays that engage the pressing questions of faith, justice, and public life. Here, you’ll find hundreds of thoughtful and engaging pieces from scholars, practitioners, and everyday Christians — leaders and writers who bring fresh insight and faithful imagination. These articles are meant to spark deeper discipleship, fuel courageous action, and equip the church to embody the gospel in a complex world. We invite you to explore, learn, and join the ongoing conversation toward a fuller expression of Christian faithfulness and a more just society.
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By Nia Campinha-Bacote
Embracing the Both-And
During my time at divinity school, I interned as a hospital chaplain. I worked at a Level I trauma center, meaning many of the patients who came into our emergency room had severe and often life-threatening injuries.
By Miguel De La Torre
What good is the pursuit of the intellect if it does not contribute to the betterment of humanity? Eurocentric scholarship has been reduced to knowing, not transforming. For those who are minoritized by Eurocentric academics, the goal of the scholar who is prophetic is to seek harmony with what the future might bring while remaining faithful to one’s beliefs and/or worldview—providing encouragement when it leads toward justice, dire warning when it does not.
By Victor Andre Greene
Originally published October 2021
We walk and use small talk. How are you? Where are you from? How long have you lived here? That kinda stuff.
I elongate my sentences and leave long gaps between each phrase to give room for processing.
By Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon
The holy city of Jerusalem exists as one of the most sacred cities in the world to the three major Abrahamic religions–Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Two peoples (Jews and Palestinians) and three faith traditions not only share the entire city but have also shared interest in individual holy sites as well.
By Jennifer Carpenter
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published Jun 27, 2019. Since then, the organization we interviewed has changed its name to Right to Be.
“Hey, baby, come over here and let me look at you a minute.” “Smile, beautiful.” “What’s your name, little mama?”
I never know what to say when I hear this kind of stuff while walking down the street.
By Andre Henry
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
I imagine the weekend of Jesus’ execution might have felt something like the fall of 2020: the feeling of watching a revolution die.
By Christine Sine
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
I love gardening and one of the things I love about living in the northern hemisphere is that Easter coincides with the spring blossoming and planting seasons.
By Cyndi Parker
Originally published Mar 7, 2022
I did not grow up observing Lent. I knew “those other Christians” gave up their favorite things during Lent, which made me feel sad for them.
By Jacqueline Bussie
What if the most astonishing greatness about Flannery O’Connor is not some moral life she lived but the grace her own writing brought into her own airless, privileged box of whiteness? The way grace liberated much of her writing from her own bias, prejudice, and racism?
By David de Leon
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
I did not grow up in a church that observed Lent, but I did grow up around altar calls.
By Rev. Letiah Fraser
A Public Confession: You were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil.
-Genesis 3:19b (CEB)
The Lenten season is a good time for confession.
By Kaitlin Curtice
The word story is defined as “an account of past events in someone’s life or in the evolution of something.” I think about this a lot when I travel and speak: How does our story evolve, change, and become?
By B. Julie Johnson
Originally published Jul 7, 2021
Prostitution. Few social practices have generated more controversy, confusion, scorn, pity, fascination, intrigue, myths, and theories — and for thousands of years. At the same time, it’s difficult to think of any other social behavior, except genocide, that has silenced so many throughout the ages.
By Christine Sine
A couple of weeks ago, I read a fascinating article that talked about how chemical sprays—both pesticides and fertilizers—negatively impact beneficial insects by altering the electrical field around flowers, making bumblebees less likely to land on them for pollination.
By Elrena Evans
Originally posted April 21, 2022
We spoke with Elrena Evans about her new book, Special Grace: Prayers and Reflections for Families with Special Needs from InterVarsity Press. Below you’ll find our conversation, as well as an excerpt from Evans’ beautiful book.
By Melanie Springer Mock
I’ve been thinking a lot about the spate of book bans occurring across the country recently, school boards and state legislatures and governors deciding that some books are too dangerous for young people, because they narrate stories about queer protagonists, because they center the lives of Black people, because they aren’t solely populated with white evangelical ideals.
By Nikki Toyama-Szeto
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
Walking the pathway, I wanted to look up at the stony landscape. But the path was so pebbly that I had to keep my eyes on the ground to keep from stumbling.