Work & Economics
Civil Rights & Civic Engagement: An Interview with Rep. Jim Clyburn
UrbanFaith sat down with Congressman Jim Clyburn to discuss his faith, his legacy, and his work to strengthen democracy and justice in the United States.
Faithful Service: An Interview with Rep. Val Demings
UrbanFaith exclusive interview with US Congresswoman Val Demings
Life Starts Now: An Interview with Chanel Dokun
Have you ever felt like you’ve been waiting for life to happen? Chanel Dokun, a therapist and life planner, helps us in her book Life Starts Now: How to Create the Life You’ve Been Waiting For
Three Tips for Bringing Your Ministry Skills Into the Marketplace
Tip #1: Break Out of Your Box Understand that God uniquely designed you. Everything about you was created to appeal to the people, place, and position that God destined for your life. Breaking out of your box is an act of surrender that allows God the opportunity to...
EntreVangelism: Stepping Out of the Church and Into the Marketplace
For years, I struggled to reconcile my passion for ministry and the marketplace.
UF Ministry in the Barbershop
The barbershop serves as a default counseling center and community center for many Black men. But for barbers who are believers, it becomes a place for ministry.
Balance: Interview with Touré Roberts
UrbanFaith sat down to interview Touré Roberts, the visionary leader and founder of ONE (formerly OneChurch LA) to discuss his new book Balance. Touré Roberts is a man who wears many hats. He is a husband, father, producer, pastor, author, speaker, and...
Black seminary grads, with debt higher than others, cope with money and ministry
Black ministers who pursue seminary often take on greater debt in order to serve churches across the nation.
What is this Stewardship Thing Really All About?
In church, we often hear people make reference to “being a good steward over what God has given us.” But do we really know what that means? Many would argue that the Bible talks more about money and stewardship than almost anything else. That suggests to us that what...
Seller of Purple
In her new book, Seller of Purple, Dr. Tasha M. Brown lays out a solid framework for newbie women entrepreneurs.
He Saw That It Was Good: An Interview with Sho Baraka
How can we hear and follow God in the midst of our fractured reality in ways that are faithful and life-giving? UrbanFaith sat down with the artist, activist, and creative Sho Baraka to talk about his new book He Saw That It Was Good, which helps us think through some of the most pressing questions in our world.
It’s Time to Take Control of Your Financial Health
God desires for us to have balance in everything we do. Having the confidence to handle your finances is a commitment you have to make to yourself.
All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living
In her book, “All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts For Boundless Living,” Morgan Harper Nichols not only expresses herself beautifully in both word and visual art, she offers a poetic balm to every person familiar with the sting of suffering.
Are you embracing the 4 C’s of financial literacy?
Create an outlook on money that will push and motivate you to have a healthy relationship with your finances.
Love Packages
Love Packages, a nondenominational nonprofit, takes on the arduous task of sending more than 1,500 tons of donated curriculum each year from churches and individuals nationwide to people all over the world who desperately seek them.
Bishop Vashti McKenzie Encourages Others Through New Gratitude Project
Bishop Vashti McKenzie has started her own project to inspire gratitude during COVID-19. The aptly named Gratitude Project focuses on inspiring feelings of gratitude, inspiration and joy to combat anxiety amid COVID-19.
Crown of Thorns: One Woman’s Journey From Foster Care To Success
Shalita O’Neale took her experiences growing up in foster care and used them as inspiration to create the Fostering Change Network, a nonprofit that creates avenues to a successful life after foster care while eliminating the stigma.
Empowering the Next Generation of Christian Women Leaders
With Selah: Leadership Encounters for Women, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie aims to support Christian women leaders by creating an ongoing network of friends and colleagues who help and empower each other by opening doors, providing resources, and offering practical advice.
From Ministry to Muckraking: The Biblical Basis for Investigative Reporting
COMMENTARY: Some people say journalists are “godless.” But I spent five years in full-time Christian ministry, and my faith has made me a better reporter.
Faith in Action gears up for 2020 election season, with a focus on local offices
For the Rev. Alvin Herring, executive director of the congregation-based organizing network Faith in Action, wearing a clerical collar is about more than appearances. It prepares him for the task of making social change.
It Takes a Village to Support Students
Some years ago, my pastor asked us to take that Sunday’s message out into the world and “do life together.” My pastor’s call was a reminder that we do not walk this human journey in isolation. We do so as members of communities created around our faiths, our hometowns, our families — and our schools.
Decades after ‘Black Manifesto,’ religious groups take up reparations again
Five decades later, the reparations debate has re-entered the national spotlight, with some religious institutions leading the way.
John Perkins: On race and the church, authentic friendship, considering heaven
The evangelical author and activist who has worked on race relations for decades said “we haven’t found a language of accepting each other.”
With Joel Osteen, Kanye drops a clue about his faith, and his kinship with Trump
Will the collective American conscience idolize Kanye’s self-professed conversion to the point of whitewashing his narrative?
Stop the BS (Bad Stats)
When you hear a negative statistic about black students, question it. Ivory A. Toldson refers to these kinds of negative statistics as “BS” or “bad stats” — data points that are incomplete, poorly contextualized, usually negative and sometimes wrong.
Called to Train Young Tech Pros
Considering a career in tech but don’t have a degree? One ambitious brother let God lead him to develop a vocational school for aspiring electronic techies.
How to Be a Woman in Church Leadership
Michelle McClain-Walters’ experience in church culture and study of godly women in the Bible have given her a deeper understanding of what it means to be a God-honoring woman in leadership.
Created with unconditional love
COMMENTARY: If we could only remember who we are — made in the likeness of God! And we are called to represent God wherever we may be: in our family, in class and even in the streets.
Rise & Shine: Could church vans inspire a solution to student absenteeism?
In the fight to improve attendance, the Detroit district will try using vans to pick up absent students. The vans will be assigned to schools with particularly high rates of chronic absenteeism.
850 religious leaders back lawsuit against DHS surveillance of pastor
Earlier this month, Manhattan pastor Kaji Douša filed a federal lawsuit accusing U.S. officials of violating her religious liberty by detaining and surveilling her over her ministry to migrants at the border.
New black woman seminary president breaking ‘glass ceilings’
New York Theological Seminary President LaKeesha Walrond views her leadership of a 300-student multidenominational seminary focused on urban ministry as a reason for hope for other women.
How Black Pharmacists Are Closing The Cultural Gap In Health Care
Black pharmacists are helping fill a void for African American patients seeking medical care that acknowledges our heritage, beliefs, and values.
Churches Wipe Out Millions In Medical Debt For Others
Like a modern-day loaves-and-fishes story, churches are learning that a relatively small amount of money can help wipe out millions of their parishioners’ debt.
Movie Review: EMANUEL
A riveting documentary film on the shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church, marking the somber fourth anniversary of the tragedy.
In St. Louis, ‘Grill to Glory’ deploys churches (and hot dogs) for community renewal
Grill to Glory” is a partnership between local churches and Better Family Life to build community in North St. Louis, an area plagued by violent crime.
In Ethiopia, women and faith drive effort to restore biodiversity
Firewood and charcoal make up nearly 90 percent of household energy consumption in Ethiopia, where the reliance on fuelwood has endured despite negative environmental impacts and unsustainable growth.
A Chance at Redemption
Urban Faith talked with CNN’s Van Jones about his faith and spirituality, and “The Redemption Project with Van Jones,” a new series that connects victims or surviving families with those who caused great violence in their lives.
Nuns in Africa create social enterprise startups to help communities
Sister Christine Imbali of the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret, in western Kenya, has been working to help low-income women and families end their reliance on her small community of Catholic religious women and other charitable groups. Instead of a charity, she wants to...
Blacks mostly left behind by progress since Dr. King’s death
More than 50 years after MLK’s death, a minority politics scholar assesses black progress in the US based on poverty, jobs and wealth.
YouTube Testimony: Ebony Shanae
It’s Ebony Shanae’s last semester of college and she finds out her financial aid has run out.
Seminaries partner with prisons to offer inmates new life as ministers
Inmates become “field ministers” who serve as counselors for other inmates, lead prayers, assist prison chaplains and generally serve as a calming influence in prison yards.
Latter-day Saints, NAACP collaborating on inner-city initiative
Latter-day Saints and civil rights leaders are making plans for a collaboration to foster education and economic empowerment in urban centers across the country. Officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the NAACP met in Salt Lake City earlier...
Leap Of Faith: Will Health Care Ministries Cover Your Costs?
Sharing ministries are based on biblical principles and are not the same as commercial insurance. They are not legally binding and may not cover some common medical expenses.
Should Churches Strive to Be Multi-Ethnic?
Multiracial churches are on the rise as blacks and whites learn to worship together.
What Could Kingdom Corporate Leadership Mean?
Imagine if Apple CEO Tim Cook were to decide that pursuing Kingdom outcomes was of equal or greater importance than shareholder value creation.
When ministry doesn’t pay
During the week, Mindy Mayes works full-time as a public health educator. This job puts food on the table and keeps gas in her tank. Then each Sunday, she drives 100 miles each way to and from her church where she serves as part-time pastor.
Navigating Missional Work as the Lone Person of Color
Word Made Flesh Global Executive Director Leroy Barber talks about the challenges of sometimes being the only person of color in missional ministries.
15 Questions for Success: Mike Smoke
Recently, we have been working hard to bring you quality content on faith and work and plan to continue shedding light on people who are successful in making their work and faith collide in their respective industries. Each entrepreneur and professional featured in...
15 Questions for Success: Avril Speaks
For the past few weeks, we have been working hard to bring you quality content on faith and work and plan to continue shedding light on people who are actually successful in making their work and faith collide in their respective industries. Each entrepreneur and...
15 Questions for Success: Shawn Dove
Have you been following our Faith and Work Series? The Urban Faith team understands the importance of connecting faith to your everyday life, particularly for young adults. So, for the past few weeks, we have been working hard to bring you quality content on faith and...