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January 5, 2012
The Progressive Christian Suspends Publication

One of the nation's oldest continuously published social justice magazines ceased publication Jan. 1, falling to the same social and economic forces that have decimated other non-profit organizations and periodicals in recent years.

One of the nation's oldest continuously published social justice magazines ceased publication Jan. 1, falling to the same social and economic forces that have decimated other non-profit organizations and periodicals in recent years.

The Progressive Christian, a 189-year-old magazine of Christian social witness, suspended publication “indefinitely," according to its Board of Directors, after a winter fund-raising campaign fell far short of the financial resources needed to keep the faith-based social justice periodical afloat.

September 22, 2011
Assessing the Myths of Interfaith Dialogue

Interfaith dialogue, including currently fraught relations between Israelis and Palestinians, might be more successful if an overlooked common Jewish-Arabic heritage were revived.

Editor's note: In light of this week's effort by the Palestinian Authority to gain statehood through the United Nations, we publish again this insightful 2006 article from the founder of the Sephardic Heritage Center, an organization devoted to preserving and promoting the history and accomplishments of Sephardic Jews.

September 6, 2011
Bad Air, Bad Fires, Bad 9/11 Choices

The Obama Administration wimps out on saving the environment while drought-fueled wildfires blaze through Texas. Meanwhile, the mayor of New York City sets off his own sparks by refusing to include clergy in the 9/11 commemoration.

Faith & the Common Good Sept. 6, 2011

Cough, cough, hack, gasp! That's the sound of the TPC Editor's asthma in the midst of Dallas' Grade F-quality air, which bodes to get worse after the Obama Administration's latest environmental faux pas.

August 8, 2011
Debauchery, Gluttony and Literalism, Oh, My!

Twice as many people around the world joined in a "Day of Debauchery and Gluttony" as those who attended Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "Day of Prayer and Fasting" in Houston on Aug. 6. What's more, they had fun poking fun at Perry's egregious hijacking of First Amendment privileges for conservative  Christians only.

Mark Kaplan of Dallas, Texas, started a Facebook joke about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "Day of Prayer and Fasting" on Aug. 6, and it turned into a worldwide phenomenon.

August 3, 2011
Seeding the Scripture

A new online feature looks at current events through the lens of scripture, and elsewhere it's hotter 'n hell.

So much news of late has been just awful (witness Maureen Dowd's 'way-over-the-top commentary in the New York Times on the resolution of the federal budget crisis) that TPC notes with great eagerness and relief a new feature, "ON Scripture," at the Huffington Post.

July 6, 2011
Faith & the Common Good July 6, 2011

With President Obama and congressional leaders preparing to face off over the federal deficit, here are some summaries and links to recent articles that go behind the scenes of the moral and philosophical fight over the U.S. budget.

With President Obama and congressional leaders preparing to face off over the federal deficit, here are some summaries and links to recent articles that go behind the scenes of the moral and philosophical fight over the U.S. budget. Excerpts courtesy of Faith in Public Life.

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A Moral Budget

By Bob Abernethy
PBS, Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly July 5, 2011

June 23, 2011
Faith & the Common Good June 23, 2011

Items of common good for Christians to note: A dire new report on the state of the Earth's oceans; optimism among evangelicals in the Global South;  a gathering of conservative Christians plots political revival and Christian leaders urge faster U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.

This must be our week to contemplate humanity's poor performance as the stewards of God's creation (see "Monday Mail: Wild Weather, Women's Wages and World Politics"). The latest evidence of planet-wide environmental danger comes in a dire new report from International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO).

June 21, 2011
Questions and Answers About the Trial of Rev. Amy DeLong

Learn about how The United Methodist Church will conduct denominational legal proceedings against the Rev. Amy DeLong, who faces two charges for acknowledging her 16-year committed relationship with her lesbian partner, and for officiating at the wedding ceremony of a gay couple in Wisconsin.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Rev. Amy DeLong of Osceola, Wis., will undergo a United Methodist Church trial starting June 21 to respond to a charge that she has violated church law by being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” and officiating at a same-sex union. UMNS will cover the trial and will post coverage online at www.umc.org and on the UMNS Facebook page. Michele Virnig, director of communications for the Wisconsin Annual (regional) Conference, provided the information below.

What is a church trial?

June 17, 2011
Faith & the Common Good June 17, 2011

Anti-Muslim sentiments, immigration and abortion top religion news headlines.

 

June 15, 2011
Progressive Christianity Symposium

Check out the latest links to a diverse group of scholars, bloggers, pastors, and authors —including contributors to The Progressive Christian and its editor — featured on Patheos.com during its two-week symposium, "What Is Progressive Christianity?"

The Progressive Christian is among contributors to a summer symposium, "Progressive Christianity: What It Is and Why It Matters Today," at Patheos.com.

In partnership with the Wild Goose Festival, Patheos invited a diverse group of renowned scholars, bloggers, pastors, and authors—from mainline Protestants to progressive Evangelicals—to reflect on the nature of progressive Christianity and its significance today.

June 14, 2011
Faith & the Common Good June 14, 2011

A new three-days-a-week feature gleans the latest news and information on ways that beliefs are influencing public issues and policies.

May 21, 2011
Two Views on a Public Dispute

The public dispute between Sojourners magazine and the Believe Out Loud campaign over the former's refusal to publish the latter's ad on behalf of LGBT rights has flared and simmered for two weeks. Here, Jim Burklo urges Jim Wallis to show courage in his public stance, while Frederick Schmidt contends that the flap shows the deficiencies of Progressive Christianity as a whole.

May 21, 2011
What Does a Progressive Christian Believe?

Despite assertions to the contrary, Progressive Christians hold core theological beliefs that link their diverse expressions of social action. The trick is remembering to rely on them when tempers flare, as in the dispute between Sojourners and Believe Out Loud.

Every so often, there's a family squabble among Progressive Christians. Over the past two weeks, the tempest has been between the Rev. Jim Wallis and his magazine, Sojourners, and the Believe Out Loud campaign urging Christians to acknowledge publicly their support for LGBT rights.

April 19, 2011
'Larking About' … with Purpose

Even "larking about" social media sites can discover news and views with Purpose.

Over the course of my life, people who know me have sometimes told me to "lighten up." This I find hard to do, because I'm one of those people cursed with Purpose, like Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus. This laser-like focus makes me a good editor, I'm told, but not always fun at parties. Even when I try to "lark about" the social media world, I end up with a pastiche of useful tidbits, like these from various sources ...

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March 31, 2011
Passage: The Rev. Ann Greene Whiting, 1948-2011

The first woman to be editor and publisher of The Progressive Christian's predecessor publication, Zion's Herald, was known for her courage and conviction.

The Rev. Ann Greene Whiting, my friend and colleague of 23 years as well as my predecessor in this office, could be described in a singular phrase: “courage and conviction.” Yet she was so much more to the family, friends and colleagues now mourning her March 28 death from kidney failure at age 63.

March 14, 2011
A Life of Creative Spirit Captured in Two Volumes

Two volumes of blogs and sermons encapsulate Rev. Lane Denson's 50-plus years of ministry, music and the writing life.

 The most outstanding preachers have always been performance artists. They have a feel for the combination of words and rhythms, the gestures of face and hand. Some are musicians as well, and give their orations a melodious tone or a discordant challenge. When these gifts are combined with high intellect, the result is a feast for mind and soul.

March 1, 2011
Monday Mail: People's history, Muslim hearings, and John Boehner

Travel to sites of protest, Americans' views on next week's King hearings on Muslims, and Speaker of the House John Boehner's justification for cutting off benefits to poor children are part of the Monday Mail, which happens on Tuesday this week.

OK, so I'm fibbing – Monday Mail comes on Tuesday this week. Life happens; deal with it.

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In light of the ongoing demonstrations in Wisconsin and elsewhere on behalf of workers' rights – something that The Progressive Christian thoroughly endorses – here's an interesting piece from, of all places, the Trazzler travel site: a slideshow highlighting places of protest around the world where "people's history" – a phrase coined by the late scholar Howard Zinn -- occurred.

December 29, 2010
The Truth About Bethlehem

Find out more about what really happened this Christmas in the little town of Bethlehem.

Friends, when it comes to finding out the truth about what's going on between Israel and Palestine, there's no better source than James M. Wall and his blog, Wallwritings.

The former editor of The Christian Century magazine has been an expert on Middle East politics, which inevitably includes religion, for decades. Jim's contacts in the region are solid gold, and he regularly produces the kind of fact-based, hard-hitting investigative journalism that American media ought to be creating, but isn't.

December 8, 2010
The Anatomy of Failure

President Barack Obama's political failures bear a disturbing likeness to those of Jews of Sephardic heritage, and the parallels offer serious warnings as well as insights, writes David Shasha, director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage in Brooklyn, NY.

Watching the abysmal failure of President Obama, a failure that has continued to intensify as time passes, in keeping his campaign promises to the American people I am reminded of the parallel failure of the Sephardic Jews. The president's complete lack of guts and courage mirrors that of the Sephardim in that both sit in pathological fear of their adversaries – a reality that has serious implications for all of us.

December 6, 2010
Bookworms Wanted!

If you love reading books and writing about them online, here's an opportunity for you!

Not everybody likes worms, but The Progressive Christian would love to find some dedicated bookworms to take a bite out of its overflowing shelf of review books! Trendy tomes on topics near and dear to the hearts of progressive Christians everywhere await your digesting into tasty online reviews.

August 7, 2010
Special Correspondence

Readers respond to a clergyman's question on the true meaning of salvation.

Editor's Note: These readers are responding to the Rev. Wallace Chappell's article on the meaning of salvation in The Progressive Christian Spring I issue.