Ahead of Its Time

9/6/11 – Fascinating story in the Detroit Free Press about Covert Township, MI, which has had racially integrated schools since African-American settlers first arrived, the year after the end of the Civil War. (H/T to my friend Mark Totten.) Not nearly as remarkable, but kind of fun: we stopped in Covert during our vacation in … More Ahead of Its Time

My Four Favorite Sounds

One of my favorite things about the church we attend is its music ministry. Even for a church of our size, it’s remarkable that we have enough musically gifted members (some of them professional musicians, most talented amateurs) to support multiple adult, youth, and children’s choirs, a contemporary worship band, bell choirs, a wind ensemble, … More My Four Favorite Sounds

Labor Day Silences

9/5/11 – How is Labor Day observed, or not observed? Nathan Gilmour asks about churches; John Fea about colleges and schools (Bethel is off, for the record); and Will McDonald has a long, excellent piece lamenting that Major League Baseball pays so little attention to this holiday, unlike Memorial Day or Independence Day (H/T Craig … More Labor Day Silences

This Week in History

Labor Day Edition September 5, 1882 – New York City hosts America’s first Labor Day parade Here’s how the New York Times began its report on the proceedings: The parade of the working men yesterday, although not so large as its organizers had predicted, was conducted in an orderly and pleasant manner. Those who rode … More This Week in History

The Week in Preview

9/2/11 – Coming up next week… A labor history-themed This Week in History, stories of African and Asian Christian leaders, and the belated return of my series on Christian colleges, Pietism, and the “usable past.”

Evangelicals and “Dominion” (part 2)

Yesterday I posted a response to the debate over Dominion theology, which holds that Scripture mandates that Christians control secular institutions, including political ones. There have been several sources for the revival of a debate whose roots go back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, but probably the most important was Ryan Lizza’s profile … More Evangelicals and “Dominion” (part 2)