June 25, 2019

Is Our Worship Beautiful?

Google “most beautiful places of worship” and you’ll get some stunning examples of architecture, from churches to temples to mosques. But what makes a place of […]
June 18, 2019

Why I Can’t Stay

By Sophie Vodvarka (Editor’s note: This guest blog post appeared originally Nov. 7, 2018, on the blog Sick Pilgrim on Patheos, a website devoted to global […]
June 11, 2019

Our World Needs Wisdom of Weak Ties

Recently, I relistened to a series of CDs by the poet David Whyte. Titled Clear Mind Wild Heart: Finding Courage & Clarity Through Poetry, the audiobook […]
June 4, 2019

Millennials Value Diversity, Inclusivity at Work, Worship

Religious affiliation is not to blame for anti-Muslim attitudes in the United States. Islamophobia rather is most characteristic of those who do not have personal relationships […]
May 28, 2019

Some Megachurches Looking Like Catholic Parishes

“Why are megachurches and formerly iconoclastic mainline denominations looking more like Catholic parishes in terms of liturgy and practices even as some Catholics are, late to […]
May 21, 2019

Some Young People Staying to Lead, Serve Church

Not all young people are leaving the Catholic Church. Nor are those who stay uniformly conservative, traditionalist, or doctrinally dogmatic. Those realities make few headlines, pushed […]
May 14, 2019

Design Thinking Can Help Churches Serve Young People

By D. Dale WalkerSecond of two parts One of the defining characteristics of the American church is its entrepreneurial spirit. Innovations like Methodism and Mormonism took […]
May 8, 2019

Rachel Held Evans Taught Us How To Be Christian

I had not heard of Rachel Held Evans until she died on May 4. My wife noticed a write-up about her online and pointed it out […]
May 7, 2019

Design Thinking May Be Just the Tool Churches Need

By D. Dale WalkerFirst of two parts How can churches engage young people meaningfully, keeping them active and growing in faith? Helpful ways of answering this […]
April 30, 2019

The Transformative Power of Music

Music throughout history has provided people a means to gather, talk, worship, pray, celebrate, dance, sing, meditate. Music is both communal and profoundly personal, providing comfort, […]
April 23, 2019

Growing Up Muslim in America

(Note: Saint Mary’s Press Research spoke with Sara, a young Muslim woman, about her experience growing up and today as a Muslim woman in the United […]
April 16, 2019

Speaking from the Deep Well of One’s Being

By Ellen B. Koneck When I first read Going, Going, Gone: The Dynamics of Disaffiliation Among Young Catholics in the fall of 2017, the detail that […]
April 9, 2019

Spiritual Director: ‘We Are All Seekers’

Spiritual direction is essentially companioning someone in his or her spiritual life. Other ways of describing spiritual direction include holy listening, spiritual friendship, sacred journeying.” (Janna […]
April 2, 2019

Can We Talk?

A number of blog posts in this space have emphasized the importance of listening and being heard. Not only do those in the midst of religious […]
March 26, 2019

Church Called To Be Midwife

Note: Christiana Rice, coauthor with Michael Frost of To Alter Your World: Partnering with God to Rebirth Our Communities (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017), participated […]