I’m a chaplain who doesn’t always like to go to church. Truthfully, some churches make me uncomfortable.
Many churches use powerful storms as opportunities to advocate for flood control measures and provide relief to the devastated communities.
If you are honest with yourself today, I suspect you sometimes recognize the deceptive voice of privilege. It’s the voice we use when we insist that people accept us simply because we’re a Christian, or because our family is rich, or because we speak English or because we are tall white men. Or because we are a chaplain.
Charleston Pride Week has begun, but not all of the Lowcountry's LGBTQ community is celebrating.
A lawsuit filed by a church against a South Carolina town last year for prohibiting worship services at a public facility has prompted the municipality to lift the ban.
"Educated" is the memoir of a woman raised by Mormon survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, where her mother mixes herbs for healing as her father salvages things from the junkyard.
Leaders are considering turning a valuable 5-acre parcel, formerly home to Rural Mission, into a sea islands retreat center.
While hospice sometimes happens in a hospital, my work happens in a patient’s home. I join a team of social workers, nurses, aids and volunteers who provide comfort to people in their final six months of life.
A new documentary film is a first step that has led to conversations about other ways to confront, and to come to terms with, the College of Charleston's difficult past.
The Rev. Hillary Taylor wants to disable the guns and repurpose them in the Saluda community as gardening tools or artwork.
"I don’t find fault with those who find it necessary to leave their church. It’s probably our nature to seek more agreeable environments when things become uncertain."
Here's a list of museums, monuments and markers in the tri-state region where you can learn about the historic Civil Rights events in the region.
Billy Green wants the children to look back fondly at their summers spent with him and to pass the tradition of hard work onto future generations.
Feel like taking a trip with me? If so, I’m inviting you to join my wife and me as we return to Honduras March 8-15, 2020.
The Rev. Wayne Gregg has had the unique experience of worrying if his Sunday morning sermons will be interrupted by a vehicle slamming into the sanctuary.
Have you ever been in such physical pain that it gave others a bad impression of you? If so, you’re definitely not alone in this reaction. I’ve been there, too.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston announced last month an array of programming and special services to mark its bicentennial, culminating with a closing event on July 20, 2020, in Columbia.
The true result of prayer can’t always be measured in outcome. Maybe prayer gains some power in the input. Perhaps prayer has a power to heal even when it does not cure.
Christian book publishers and some Charleston-area faith leaders fear that a proposed tariff on Chinese imports could lead to a shortage of Bibles in the United States.
Author Mary Helen Hensley returns to Charleston to talk about her experiences and how understanding can lead to healing.
Our veterans need special places to talk to one another about the difficulty of military-spouse relationships.
Students from Palmetto Scholars Academy have donated more than 100 pounds of produce to local churches and food banks since establishing a garden April.
Many Americans make big decisions without consulting with clergy, a new poll says. Some Charleston area faith leaders say that may not be a bad thing.
This strategy echoes the advice of Teddy Roosevelt who said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
Neither Sam nor Jane expected to experience that depth of love again. “That being said,” Sam told how, “a different kind of love can be found in one’s eighties, and Jane and I have found it.”
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim's temple will undergo a $1 million renovation beginning this summer.
Real faith is relation-based, not fear-based.
After receiving summer Bible school curriculum that many said promoted racist stereotypes, Charleston area congregations have modified the study to discuss with children the reality of slavery.
GRACE WILL LEAD US HOME: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness. By Jennifer Berry Hawes. St. Martin's Press. 320 pages. $28.99.
While many of South Carolina's Christian-themed signs are sponsored by large charitable groups, some are sponsored by private residents who take seriously Christ's instructions to share the good news — some spending half of their annual earnings to reach the masses.
Aside from teaching me golf etiquette, my golfing friends were highlighting a tricky question we face in life when we reach a pinnacle of accomplishment. Do we toot our own horn, or do we wait, head bowed, to be showered with accolades?
Four years after a self-avowed white supremacist gunned down nine black worshipers who welcomed him into their Bible study, Charleston area churches have struck a balancing act in ramping up security efforts while still keeping the doors of the church open.
Longtime Jewish Studies Program Director Martin Perlmutter is retiring. A new director, Yaron Ayalon, will take the helm of a flourishing program at the College of Charleston.
Prayer should express exactly what we are thinking. If you’re mad at God, I encourage you to stand up and shake your fist at him. Tell him to his face, not behind his back. That’s right, God overhears your complaints to friends about him not taking your calls.
The only physical remembrance at the Medical University of South Carolina of the 1969 hospital workers strike is a silver-and-black historic marker that stands modestly along a pedestrian entrance to the campus.
Emanuel AME Church and other houses of worship traumatized by mass shootings are reaching out to offer lessons learned and shoulders to lean on.
Months after the United Methodist Church strengthened restrictions around LGBTQ rights, a group of centrist and progressive Methodists are making a push to make the church more inclusive.
The following are events held in coordination with the fourth anniversary of the June 17, 2015, Emanuel AME Church shooting.
This isn’t your ordinary feature documentary. This is a film about an act of horrific violence. By a white supremacist. In a historic black church.
This weekend, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, I’m reading “The Liberator” by Alex Kershaw.
Christian rap artists, use their platform to spread the Gospel to youth and discuss theological and community-based issues through hip-hop.
A new book by Post and Courier reporter Jennifer Berry Hawes tells the deeply personal story of what survivors and victims' families faced after a white supremacist killed nine worshipers inside Emanuel AME Church.
As the political signs fill my neighborhood, I’m aware that our country remains divided on issues like abortion, medical care, immigration and gay rights.
Mission Charleston, a group of Charleston area congregations that aims to strengthen bonds within the faith community, is asking local congregations to help fund operational costs for a private premiere showing of "Emanueul." The event, slated for June 15 at the Charleston Gailliard Center, is in collaboration with Arbella Studios and the city of Charleston and will also honor the victims, survivors, first responders and others connected to the tragedy where nine parishioners were killed during Bible study.
She served 10 years in the military. Four times she went to Afghanistan. She accompanied Special Forces on many missions. Once, she was caught within the dangerous perimeter of an improvised explosive device and suffered a serious concussion when it detonated.
Fortunately, I retired from the Air Force chaplaincy without ever coming close to giving my life for my country. But I always prayed that if that day were to come, I would follow the courageous tradition of the “Four Chaplains” of World War II.
Melvin Brown, who was refused membership into the private club at a meeting, and Andrew Savage, Brown’s co-sponsor at the meeting, will participate in The Social Justice Racial Equity Collaborative’s Living Your Truth series Tuesday.
This year's Piccolo Spoleto festival includes the Notes for Nourishment concert series aiming to provide healing for hearers and funds to help the area's hungry, homeless and hurting.
Is it possible that one can become overloaded with compassion and begin to drift into the lane of the ridiculous?
In last week’s column, I promised to tell you the story of Army Sgt. Robert Stucki from Clarksville, Ky. I interviewed the sergeant for this column 10 years ago when he was a patient, and I the chaplain, at the Air Force Field Hospital in Balad, Iraq.
Victor Hugo wrote “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in 1831 because the cathedral was in a state of horrible disrepair. If the fire at Notre Dame can prompt society to come together and examine its priorities, then he would be glad to know that his novel is still fulfilling its purpose.
Months after the United Methodist Church voted to tighten LGBTQ restrictions, youth and young adults in the church remain optimistic about their future with the denomination.
While pastors preach, teach and provide spiritual leadership, church members also view them as chief executive officers overseeing large organizations and say management skills are important for the task.
