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 Christine Sine
I am currently in Australia visiting my family.
I love coming at this time of year — not only because it gives me a break from Seattle’s cold, rainy autumn, but also because November usually sits just before the Christmas rush.
Ministry volunteers and secondary trauma
by Nita Belles
As I walked along Bourbon Street in New Orleans a couple of nights before the 2013 Super Bowl, my heart broke repeatedly. Young teen girls were paraded in and out of strip clubs while their pimps talked on cell phones, arranging “dates” for their victims, who would be forced to turn over every dime “earned” for providing sexual services.
By Anthony Grimes
Upheaval and hope in the 21st-century church
By Vincent Bacote
I am most hopeful in those circumstances that continue to reveal that there is the potential for the church to be a powerful witness to a holistic gospel,
By Al Tizon
What gives me hope when I consider the church? Churches that love God in creative worship; churches that acknowledge people’s brokenness;
By Craig Wong
I’m seeing, over the past 15 years, a growing embrace of humility, not only as virtue but also as paramount to recovery of the American church’s reason to exist.
By Gary Wilkerson
The reason I have great hope for the church is that in the midst of the darkest times the church shines the brightest light.
By Mae Elise Cannon
People who choose to be steadfast and to fight for biblical community even in the midst of human brokenness and suffering give me great hope.
By Danielle Shroyer
I think young people are asking great questions of the church, and those questions are pushing the church to think critically about what we believe and how we worship,
By Ron Sider
There is much to celebrate in today’s global Christianity. In my lifetime, I have seen the evangelical world move from a one-sided emphasis on evangelism to a
By Yohanna Katanacho
My name is the church of the Middle East. Death is below me, above me, beside me, around me, and in me. I am doomed, bleeding, and I can see only a cross.
By Kathy Khang
When I look at the church today I am sad, hurt, angry, and confused. We say we want to be bold, to proclaim Christ’s love, grace, forgiveness, and truth to the world.
By C. Christopher Smith
When I look at the vast diversity of churches in North America, there are two related things that give me great hope. First, I am encouraged by the number of churches that
By Michael R. Wear
I am hopeful about the church, because of Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
By Jo Anne Lyon
As one looks at the future it is always beneficial to reflect on the past. For over 2,000 years the church has persevered as the light of Jesus Christ in the world.
By John M. Perkins
The people are getting together and looking at the gospel afresh with a keen awareness of its redemptive purpose. They are drawing this from a holistic perspective
By Eugene Cho
This is a difficult question to answer, because it’s hard to identify a single thing that gives me hope. But my answer to what I’m most hopeful about is also what