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Jan 14, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Jeffrey Walton |Mark Tooley |Bethany Moy
I enjoy the opportunity to visit Anglican churches during my travels and experience what might otherwise be overlooked at my own parish. It wasn’t always this way: church visits when on vacation as a child aren’t something that I recall. Now, I rarely miss a Sunday – with the exception of a brief visit to Saudi Arabia this past October, which, unsurprisingly, lacks publicly accessible church services.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Jeffrey Walton |Riley Case |Mark Tooley |Bethany Moy
Time for a shout-out to Anabaptism, a Protestant wing of the church marking its 500th year anniversary this January, 2025. The marker traces to the time in 1525 when Geoge Blaurock, a Catholic priest, was baptized (re-baptized, actually) by Conrad Breubel in the home of Felix Manz in Zurich, Switzerland. This did not go down well to the religious (and political) authorities of the day. Manz was martyred (intentionally drowned) and others expelled and persecuted.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy |Ryan N. Danker
Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral showcased the best of American civil religion and of American public Christianity. Majestic hymns and choir, beautiful liturgy, solemnity, and reverence in a magnificent gothic sanctuary, with the armed forces honoring the deceased commander in chief. Former presidents and vice presidents who oppose and dislike each other sat respectfully together.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy |Ryan N. Danker |James Diddams
Articles related to United Methodist disaffiliation, local church closures, General Conference, and the new Global Methodist Church were among readers’ favorites as Juicy Ecumenism closed out another year as the Institute on Religion & Democracy blog of church and culture news and opinion. Below are the most widely read articles, in ascending order. 10. What’s United Methodist General Conference Impact?
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark L. Clifford |Bethany Moy |Ryan N. Danker |James Diddams
The TroublemakerHow Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared CriticBy Mark L. CliffordSimon & Schuster, 2024. 264 pages. “He has such a love for his life. He never gave up—he was so optimistic. He still believed in hope. What an inspiration this guy is,” Jimmy Lai speaking at a memorial for his friend of 39 years, Glynn Manson in 2015.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Sarah Carter |Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy
My grandfather’s great uncle, who shared my last name, was a Methodist Sunday school superintendent, successful farmer, lifelong Republican, local public office holder, esteemed community leader, and a Ku Klux Klan member. The Klan officiated his January 11, 1924, funeral at a Methodist church in Columbus, Indiana, which appeared on the frontpage of the town’s newspaper, The Evening Republican.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Mark Tooley |Sarah Carter |Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy
In 1981 the Institute on Religion and Democracy was founded largely to combat Liberation Theology, which melded Christianity with Marxist revolution in the Third World as a remedy for poverty and oppression. The recent death of paramount Liberation Theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez has ignited glowing tributes. Some praise him as a “prophet.” He was an enormously influential Peruvian Catholic priest and brilliant thinker who fused Marxism and Christianity to help the poor.
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Sarah Carter |Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy |Rick Plasterer
It is the Christian call to “remember those in prison” (Hebrews 13:3), so why do we forget incarcerated Pro-Life prisoners? Currently, there are nine Pro-Life individuals in federal prison, most of whom acted upon Christian conviction to save the unborn. They appear to be forgotten by the larger Christian and Pro-Life communities.
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Nov 8, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Jeffrey Walton |Bethany Moy |Rick Plasterer |Wyatt Flicker
Membership in the Episcopal Church fell further in 2023, but attendance partly rebounded post-COVID, according to statistics released today by the denomination’s Office of the General Convention at the autumn meeting of the church’s Executive Council in New Jersey. Total membership declined by 37,313 or 2.61 percent, in the most recent reporting year.
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Nov 8, 2024 | 
juicyecumenism.com | Allie Beth Stuckey |Bethany Moy |Rick Plasterer |Wyatt Flicker
Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian CompassionBy Allie Beth StuckeySentinel, Penguin Random House, 2024. 224 pages. Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion is an important book addressing multiple prominent issues. Primarily it is about how the Religious Left pushes a false and un-biblical view of compassion, empathy, and love.
