I have returned from my time in Denver for the AAR/SBL annual meetings. What a time it was! I met a ton of fascinating scholars of religion and the Bible, some of whom will hopefully become writers for the Century. In addition, I used Zoom to attend my ecclesiastical council where I learned I have been authorized for ordination in the United Church of Christ.
You might say I feel better about religion than I have in a while. There are some other reasons to be bullish on Christianity in some of our recent articles. Voices columnist Alejandra Oliva describes her work welcoming busloads of migrants to Chicago. Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans reports that, despite a few years of unprecedented stressors, clergy are receiving support from many different corners. And Sam Wells distinguishes between easy believism and faith grounded in trust.
There is no video this week (and these may be a bit spotty over the holidays). But I do bring you another piece of myself in the form of my home city, Pittsburgh. Here is a lovely poem by Sally Witt about a rose located there.
Email me: What are your joys or hangups regarding “organized religion”?
“Our immigration system treats migrants as logistical issues, as suspicious packages abandoned at the airport, as invading armies—as anything but what they are, which is people trying their hardest to survive.”
“It would be easy to think that what I’ve described as belief is the only kind of faith there is. But there is another kind, one that isn’t based on escape.”
