Ryan Burge, amplifying the results of the longstanding Pew Religious Landscape Survey, wants us to pay closer attention to the data on belief in the United States—and especially the data on what underlies belief. How often are people thinking about the meaning and purpose of...
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) The two downcast followers of Jesus said this to one another, after Jesus had drawn near to them on the...
What happens when an institution vacates a function or a role? Where does that function go? Sometimes it disappears altogether. Sometimes, other institutions pick it up—or a version of it—and carry it forward within their own scope and aims. We received an interesting email this past...
More than a decade ago, journalist Catherine Carr started a podcast on an almost absurdly minimalist premise. Traveling the world, Carr would approach people as they went about their everyday lives and ask them, "Where are you going?" The podcast ended in 2025, but you...
Late in the afternoon of June 7, 1926, an architect left his worksite and, as he did every day, made his way to Sant Felip Neri in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona for prayer, confession, and mass. At 6:05 pm, approaching a street crossing, he...
Wandering through a museum gallery recently, we came upon a full floor of religious art from earlier centuries, one painting after another sharing stories of the Bible. The Annunciation. The Transfiguration. David and Goliath. David and Bathsheba. Lot’s wife. Delilah with a fistful of hair....
About once a year we find ourselves turning to the world of sports for an apt insight into the work of church boards. Our sports offering this year comes from Rick Pitino, storied basketball coach with over 900 wins to his career, now coaching the...
At a recent gathering for faith leaders, the host greeted participants with a familiar opening. “We know we are living in challenging times.” The room nodded. Of course we are. Which prompts a thought: On what day, from today forward, will we ever say that these...
There is a moment early in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire when Blanche DuBois, fragile and frightened, asks that a bare lightbulb be covered with a paper lantern. It is one of the theater's most economical images: a person so worn down by the...