Faith & Purpose
10 Two-Minute Podcast Shorts on Prayer
In celebration of the life of Dr. Melvin E. Banks, we’re looking back on his poignant points on prayer. Turn the ringer off on your phone, find a quiet place, be still, and listen.
What are the origins of Lent?
The 40-day Lenten season, when many Christians observe fasting, began in mid-February. But how did the practice emerge?
Mending the literacy gap with the help of a horse named Goat
Caitlin Gooch grew up loving books and horses. She wants more kids in her native North Carolina to feel the same.
Why We Celebrate Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is a recognition that knowledge of Black history is worthwhile.
Reuse or recycle your Christmas tree
All kinds of factors influence choices about Christmas trees. Regardless of your choice, the key to relieving environmental angst is planning to reuse or recycle your tree.
Black pastor leads his white North Carolina church toward a fuller reckoning on race
Being a Black pastor in a predominantly white church in the age of Trump has been a challenge, but so far church members say they’ve been able to see each other as people first, not Republicans and Democrats.
‘You can’t just jump to hope’: Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on healing after the election
Curry talks about what divides the United States, what people of faith can do to help bridge those divisions and why he believes healing is possible.
Are you unsure about your life’s purpose?
Purpose is a word that is on the minds of many millennials, however, for many it seems to be that piece of the puzzle that is hidden; That needle in the haystack that you are searching for.
Mural project brought Black voices to a shuttered State Street
A public art project transformed the bleak scene left by looting and violent protests into one of color, dialogue, and Black experience.
8 Ways to Make Virtual Church Engaging
Even with best CDC practices in place, is it really safe to hold in-person church services? Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, Senior Leader of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, doesn’t think so. His 33,000+ member congregation will remain virtual until there is a COVID-19 vaccine. He’s urging other pastors to do the same.
7 Misconceptions About People Who Go to Seminary
There are many misconceptions about people who go to seminary and Bible schools, here are a few, explained and debunked.
Will your gift really make room for you?
It’s time to look within, step out in faith, and let your gift make room for you. You only live once. What is there to lose?
Emerging from Desperate Circumstances
Even before George Floyd’s death, this Minneapolis teacher was showing students ‘the power of their voices.’
Widow of Mother Emanuel pastor: ‘Much prayer is needed’
In the years since the attack at Emanuel AME, Pinckney has worked hard to pick up the pieces and to give her daughters a sense of a normal life.
Ready to Go Back To Church?
10 things to consider before heading to worship. Plus, UMI hosts its second virtual discussion: “Safety, Science, Spirit: Reopening Church Buildings,” featuring Linda Mobula, MD, MPH, and Rev. Matthew Lawrence Watley.
‘I Am Restored’
Two-time Grammy winning hip-hop artist and New York Times bestselling author Lecrae shares his thoughts on George Floyd and opens up about his own struggles and journey to restoration.
Building Bridges
New nationwide school integration initiative to bring together districts, charters, and housing experts.
Successful Moms of the Bible
Motherhood is not for the weak. It takes guts to raise children well and still keep ourselves intact. We need more than a firm hand and a special, authoritative look; we need wisdom and help. If we open our eyes and hearts, we can hear the moms of the Bible teaching us invaluable lessons about raising our kids.
Black church leaders urge churchgoers to continue to ‘tele-worship’
Top officials of seven black Christian denominations have joined civil rights leaders in calling for people to stay home until it is safe in states whose governors are lifting shelter-in-place orders.
Rethinking Sacrifice
Through the lens of the cross, Rev. Toby Sanders invites us to reimagine what a healthy notion of sacrifice would mean for our vocations and our communities
Christians face an online Easter, preparing to share the gospel without sharing the virus
Because of COVID-19, observing religious feasts online, such as Easter, is mainstream this year. A theologian and a sociologist offer six considerations for digital religion.
6 Ways to Live and Make a Difference in a COVID-19 World
Dr. Cindy Trimm, a bestselling author, and leader of a global ministry offers six practical and engaging ways to empower the faith community so we can pro-actively manage the challenging days before us.
A Vision of Success
Johnnie Jones III has made it a life’s mission to help young people see beyond the ‘hood.
Why technology didn’t (and won’t) destroy the church
Technology has become an empowerment tool for both pastors and parishioners. Online versions of the Bible are one factor people point to when citing reasons for increased engagement with the Good Book. But on the other side of the pulpit, technology is now empowering pastors to minister more effectively.
Coronavirus Close Your Church? Here Are 10 Churches to Watch Online!
The Urban Faith team asked friends, family, and Facebook members. Here are 10 great options that were recommended by our online community. Get your praise on and take a moment to offer up prayers for those who are sick and suffering.
Tech-Based Health Program Brings Our Kids, Parents Together
Rural African American families typically have more disadvantages than those living in urban areas. But high-tech options can help.
When Lenten fasting is indistinguishable from a New Age cleanse
Increasingly, the popular concept of Lent has been transformed into a kind of vaguely theistic detox. It’s a chance not to give up earthly pleasures but to exorcise toxins.
How to use digital devices this Lent for holy reflection
Digital fasting during Lent has become popular. Technology, in fact, can be good for religion.
25 Podcast Shorts on Love & Life
Be inspired by 25 biblically based, two-minute devotional podcast shorts that cover tough love, love and sorrow, love and relationships, beloved hymns, unconditional love, peace and love, and loving Jesus.
How Clergy Can Avoid Burnout
Parishioners play an important role in clergy well-being. The clergy who do best have parishioners who remember they are human.
Teaching Your Kids About God: Christ vs. Christianity
COMMENTARY: My 13-year-old son’s shocking confession forced me to confront my tendency to obscure Jesus behind the “religious” parts of my faith.
Teacher Wants to Pay it Forward
Raymond Blanks knows Newark gets a bad rap beyond its borders. He also knows “how beautiful” his hometown can be. Returning to teach the children of Newark felt like a personal responsibility.
Arkansas’ Teacher of the Year uses poetry and hometown pride to connect with her students
Stacey James McAdoo talks about how she gets her students to open up, how she confronts racism and other “isms” in the classroom, and how teaching in her hometown makes her a different kind of educator.
Cleanin’ Up Christmas
We are meticulous in repainting the Christmas narrative to make it look beautiful to the world, but do we miss out on the significance of humble beginnings when we do this?
‘Overcomer’ Star Priscilla Shirer to Headline Selah Conference
NEWS RELEASE: Created by Vashti Murphy McKenzie, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the first woman elected to this position in the denomination’s 232-year history, Selah is the place for women to dream big, go home, and execute.
The Gospel and Embodied Solidarity
“Same God,” is a documentary about Larycia Hawkins, the first African American woman to be a tenured professor at Wheaton College in Illinois, who set out to highlight the commonalities among Judaism, Islam, and Christianity and discovered what keeps them apart.
Ashamed of the Gospel?
Have you ever been ashamed to share the Gospel? Don’t be so quick to answer that question. In this article, Cornell Ngare offers a personal reflection on the difficulties – and opportunities – of evangelism.
COMMENTARY: I had a teacher who looked like me
“It is imperative that my students feel like they matter, and that they are accurately represented in their classrooms. I want them to see someone who looks like them, shares similar experiences and provides authentic anecdotes to overcome the challenges they experience.”
Black minister to his mostly white ELCA denomination: ‘We need to rethink church’
The Rev. Lenny Duncan is not your typical Evangelical Lutheran Church in America minister. Duncan is the black pastor of a mostly Afro-Caribbean congregation in one of the nation’s least diverse denominations.
DE’LEICE R. DRANE ON HER EMPOWERING BOOK “LIFE IS…”
De’Leice R. Drane and Rev. Dr. Bernice King discuss Drane’s book “Life Is…: An Inspirational Book of Devotions, Prayers, and Empowerment.”
Could black philanthropy help solve the black student debt crisis?
Black charitable giving, in part, arose from the black church and fraternal organizations throughout the 1800s and 1900s with movements such as abolitionism, the Black Women’s Club Movement and the Civil Rights Movement.
Maryland has created a truth commission on lynchings – can it deliver?
The first truth commission to research lynchings has been established in Maryland. It has the potential to educate the public about and support racial reconciliation. But it also faces obstacles.
Gospel choirs try to build racial harmony through song
A number of choirs are dedicated to bridging black and white communities in metropolitan areas rarely associated with racial harmony.
In African refugee camps, app replaces Bibles left behind
The digital library has done much to replace the reference books many South Sudanese churches lost to the tumult of the country’s civil war.
Psychiatrist Stays Close To Home And True To Her Childhood Promise
Yamanda Edwards is the only psychiatrist at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, caring for residents in South Los Angeles, a community with a shortage of mental health care.
Easter Sunrise and the Risen Inmate
On Easter morning, God rejoices in the praises of His people from the church sanctuaries. But God also listens for the prayers of the prisoner. Will we also remember the prisoners and their families on Resurrection morning?
Isn’t Lent Depressing?
Dr. Monica Coleman explores how someone who lives with depression can actually like such a depressing time of the church year.
It’s Lent, Shhh…Don’t Tell Anyone
It’s time to stop talking about what we are giving up for Lent — or judging those who do — and start pressing into Lent quietly and in expectation of God’s reward.
Fighting urban violence, one empty lot at a time
Could cleaning up neighborhoods make cities safer? Researchers are looking at novel, inexpensive solutions to crime that everyone can agree on.
‘A personal legacy’: Quilts seek to honor lynching victims
People can look at the quilts longer than a lynching photo and take in the history, Quilting has long been a traditional medium for African-American art.