On America: A Collection

Over the years, Covenant and The Living Church have featured reflections on the complex, often ambiguous relationship between Christian faith and patriotism (particularly within the context of the United States... Read More...

U2’s America

U2’s America: a promised land for refugees, safeguarded by (filthy rich) pop star prophets, subverted by the wrong sort of elected officials. There are no blue-collar workers and no rural communities

Pray for those who upset you

My plea would not only be for understanding and real human sympathy but also for intercession. I cite Job as a model.

A place in the order of things

My grandfather died two weeks ago, a few months short of his 89th birthday, in the same room where he was born. Most every night of his long life, he slept under the same roof, in the farmhouse where his parents had settled just after their marriage.

The Table: A post-political liturgy

In the wake of the inauguration, I propose the following. Churches should create a community-oriented event called the Table. The goal here is to create a space in which political partisanship takes a back seat to human interaction, and thus defuses fear of the political “other.”

The demise of American civil religion

Something will be lost no matter who wins November’s American presidential election — something more central to American identity than the dissipating mirage of political unity.