Recent Posts

  • Signs of the Times: Origin and Meaning

    Varying events in the life of the Church—from the approach of the Synod on Synodality to the “Synodal Way” of the Church in Germany—have once more brought to light the importance of Vatican II’s teaching on the “signs of the times.” Since the Council, the phrase has become shorthand for

  • Name That Bishop

    By Rob Renfroe — This editorial will be a bit different. It’s an invitation to play a game titled “Name that Bishop.” Bishops in The United Methodist Church play a critical role. They not only provide administrative oversight and vision for their episcopal areas, they are also charged in the

  • 2 Peter 1:16-21

    16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the

  • The Catholic Roots of African American Christianity

    In October 1991, workers in Lower Manhattan accidentally discovered a burial ground dating back to the seventeenth century that contained the intact remains of 419 Black people. They were taken to Howard University for anthropological examination and, in 2003, returned to Manhattan to be solemnly reburied in what is now

  • Papal Responses to the Emergence of the TLM Movement

    The Movement to Return to the Tridentine Liturgy Because of the rather chaotic manner in which the liturgical reform was implemented, and particularly because of deviations and irregularities perpetrated by some priests, the desire gradually grew among some priests and faithful to return to Tridentine Mass (often called the Traditional

  • Divine Love: “A Special Kind of Love and Mercy”

    Recently, a friend shared with me that during a Sunday church meeting, their instructor suggested God’s love was not unconditional. That did not land well for many of those in attendance and led to some rather animated discussion about God’s love. It reminded me that we are accustomed to speaking