Weird church crime: A bell was stolen from a United Methodist church in Hodgdon, Maine (pop. 1,290) ... and then returned two weeks later.

An interesting fundraising email julieroys.com/ihopkc-raisi...

Local news at its finest

A detail from my latest reporting: Greg Laurie’s Calvary Chapel church secretly settled a suit over a former minister’s alleged pedophilia around 2016. They didn’t call police. Did they call the pastor at the church where the former minister worked in 2016? I asked. The pastor refused to say.

For anyone else who felt like they just got into the Christmas spirit, only to have the lectionary drop a massacre on them a few days later, a poem from Anthony Hecht:

Not sure I trust self-reported giving—are people as generous as they think they are?—but interesting, nonetheless

“I have been completely consistent in my life in seeking to know what I need to know,” Al Mohler said under oath in October 2024, “and not wanting to know beyond what I need to know.”

The Anglican Church in North America, rocked by questions of its commitment to accountability, will put its archbishop on trial over accusations of sexual immorality.

Today in the life of my Appalachian church, lunch with the old guys included discussions of: Local politics A fire that happened How the church is helping homeless folks The history of the term “habeas corpus”

The PCA suspended the pastor of a prominent church for being harsh, unkind, domineering, slanderous, demeaning and “quarrelsome/pugnacious.” So his church voted to leave the PCA.

When you get into the court docs and find the censors haven't left you much to work with

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”

Today in the email newsletter: Confession is good for the soul. And also, on some occasions, an effective way to execute a coverup.

Doing deacon things at my Appalachian church

Twenty people have been prosecuted for church-related COVID-relief fund fraud, out of about 3,000 federal prosecutions to date.

The end of the civil war in Syria means, among other things, new research that could dramatically expand our understanding of everyday life in the Bronze Age and the birth of the alphabet:

An investigation by Haitian authorities found the boys in the Mennonite missionary's care slept with their pants tied with shoe strings to try to keep the man from pulling them off in the night. One recalled that he tied the string so tight it cut into his waist.

I'm a sucker for it obviously but love these New Yorker photos of newsrooms

No revival visible in the poll numbers—but the steadiness is actually notable

A 10th-century Bible produced by women in Germany:

As I sd to my friend, because I am always talking,—John, I sd, which was not his name, the darkness sur- rounds us, what can we do against it, or else, shall we & why not, buy a goddamn big car, drive, he sd, for christ’s sake, look out where yr going.

I wonder what people mean by "spiritual action."

These sweatshirts are causing controversy in Albuquerque, where Tim Keller (not that one) is running for reelection as mayor. But what are the chances these were made by fans of the other (real) Tim Keller?

My first story for @julieroys.bsky.social: Two lawsuits became four, four became six, then six a dozen. Now megachurch pastor Greg Laurie, his Riverside, California-based Harvest Christian Fellowship, and two former ministers of that church are facing 12 different lawsuits from 12 different men.

Today in the life of my Appalachian church, an elder gave me 16 lbs of hog fat he needed to get rid of. I guess I’m going to render it and make soap?

Classic case of Supreme Court-scrambled discourse today. The central question cuts across ideological lines: can the govt subpoena lists of donors? But the question actually argued is procedural. When is appeal allowed? Meanwhile the public debate is just, “how do you feel about the plaintiffs?”

Story about me on the site now julieroys.com/former-senio...

New gig announcement:

Fact of the day: The first Holy Land map printed in a Bible was printed backwards, so the Mediterranean Sea appeared to be to the east.

As it is said, “Today, if you hear their voices, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Who first said “Tell the truth and shame the devil”? I finally tracked down the original quote in a sermon from the 1500s …

The movie Roofman was fun. But friends, that was not a Presbyterian church.

Regular volunteers are something to behold.

Really loved the movie Train Dreams. Maybe my favorite this year. Like Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, but simpler and beautiful for it.

Today in the life of my Appalachian church, a baby was passed through two full pews. A third was overcome with jealousy.

This happened a lot in American frontier revivals. If everyone has access to God, then the testimony and preaching of a child or anyone without theological training can be powerful—and proof of what God will do. But it also opens up all kinds of questions about manipulation and abuse

What a mess www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

My talk on non-creedal evangelicals adopting Nicaea, and why

Really getting the full range of the Evangelcical Theological Society today: Christian Nationalist panel in the morning, women in leadership in the early church in the afternoon.

Discussion of the problem of the experience of the Trinity at Tremont Temple Baptist Church with Adonis Vidu, Matthew Barrett, and Lewis Ayers.

Augustine’s advice to people preaching: “It is by no means pointless to repeat things that are known, both to instruct those who don’t know them and encourage those who do.” Augustine’s advice to people listening to sermons: “Look not at the preacher but at the one preached.”

A personal note: I am leaving CT.

"As fate would have it, Cage had already read the Infancy Gospel of Thomas years ago" Yeah I guess that makes sense.

Chariots of Fire but make it Mormons and pickleball

Appreciated this—an important book about the mounting legal attacks on free press.

Supreme Court decides to pass on opportunity to revisit the constitutional protection of same-sex marriage.

Thomas Cranmer’s advice on preaching, around the time he became Archbishop of Canterbury: Definitely keep it under an hour and a half.

A breathtaking organizational collapse (Probably some lessons here.)

Doesn’t look good

Back when religious conflict came with limericks