Being Surprised By Love For An “Enemy”
I’m posting this on Election Day, because it just occurred to me now. I’m also writing today as the only thing I can write as, sometimes: as a Christian. I hope that those of other faiths can find something in my words, but today, I am musing within my own tradition. Feel free to share [...]
A Baptist Prays The Hail Mary
I am a Baptist, through and through. I feel it closely in my identity, and know the stories well. I can recite to you Walter Shurden’s work on historical Baptist distinctives. I love the story of Thomas Helwys, who founded the first Baptist church in England and died in Newgate prison for the sin of [...]
Asking More of Us
Here in the middle of the political season, I’m feeling the energy rise all around me. The political conventions turned up the heat. The debates are ongoing, and the media narratives surround us. Two parties are at each other’s throats, and I’m getting calls and e-mails every day asking me to support my favored candidate. [...]
Tolkienista
Madison McClendon grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, where he fell in love with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien at a young age. Growing up, he attended First Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, and continues to find his religious home in the Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, though his Chicago context is encouraging him to make connections with the American Baptist Churches. He graduated magna cum laude from Furman University with a degree in Religion and Political Science in 2009, and continued his education by pursuing a Master of Divinity Degree at the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago, Madison was a Schloerb Fellow and a Fund for Theological Education Congregational Fellow, and he graduated in 2012. Madison pursued academic work in religion and literature, specifically examining how fantasy texts and religious texts might illuminate each other. In addition to these studies, Madison also took classes on preaching and pastoral arts, and is interested in how the fruits of the academy can be applied carefully to the building of productive, healthy religious communities.
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Contributing Scholars
Tasi PerkinsTasi Perkins is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church and a third-year Ph.D. candidate in Theological and Religious Studies at Georgetown University. He earned a B.S. from Cornell University (Statistics and Biometry) and an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and completed a year of Th.D. work at Boston University.
Martha SchwehnMartha Schwehn Bardwell is an MDiv student at Luther Seminary and is pursuing ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband, Sam.
Matthew Zaro FisherMatthew is a first year PhD student in Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Claremont Graduate University. He is interested in issues at the intersection between theology and science, particularly pertaining to epistemology, consciousness studies, neurology, and evolution. Matthew's current research project revolves around understanding the theological claim that humanity is created in the "image of God," and what this means in light of an evolutionary world-view.