Roundup: Church and state, speaking in the public square, post-Christendom, rural future, Tree of Life, Gillian Welch, church growth, American faith

Hurdle in church-state juggle

A challenge next month in the High Court to the chaplaincy program in schools adds another twist in the religion and politics tale.

Religious leaders are learning to be bilingual

A revolution is under way because more and more religious communities have acquired the remarkable ability to switch from the language of the temple, synagogue, mosque, church or gurdwara to the language of the public square.

Subversive Anabaptism: Revolution and Reformation

The Naked Anabaptist can help us to gain an understanding of how much of Western Christianity has allied itself with forces of individualism, consumerism, and materialism. The reformative consciousness, present in both the emerging church and the Anabaptist tradition, will have room to rise if this critique of certain aspects of secular culture and corporate government can be sustained.

Regional issues beyond the mad hatter’s tea party

Thirty per cent of the Australian population, 70 per cent of the Indigenous population, large numbers of the nation’s long-term unemployed and increasing numbers of recent humanitarian refugees call rural areas home. An interest in rural Australia’s future is therefore imperative for anyone interested in the future of the nation as a whole.

The Tree of Life

Director Terrence Malick’s new movie The Tree of Life is a meditation on traditional Christian questions about evil, suffering, grace, and beauty, says Calvin College professor of English Roy Anker.

Hope of new church developments

Doing it the old way isn’t working; new methods may hold promise.

Blessed with a dark turn of mind: Gillian Welch’s spiritual strivings

Welch’s songs are shot through with characters whose lives of struggles are balanced with the desire to see Jesus, to read the Gospel pages.

More than 9 in 10 Americans believe in God

Poll shows US still extremely religious.