From senior staff writer Emily Belz: I received an email from a reader this week that encouraged me all day long. It was such a thoughtful response to an article that it helped me understand my own story better—but it was also just a boost. In general, it’s easy for writers to listen to criticisms more than encouragement.
But we really do appreciate the notes from you readers (including good-faith criticisms!). It reminds us for whom we are writing, and sometimes gives us ideas. I like the long emails and have even received a batch of handwritten notes from readers in correctional facilities. You can always email me with critiques, encouragements, and story ideas at ebelz@christianitytoday.com.
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July 31, 1966: After John Lennon proclaims the Beatles to be "more popular than Jesus," residents of Alabama burn the band’s records and other products.
Join CT Deputy Editor Bonnie Kristian and political strategist Justin Giboney on August 6 at 1:00 p.m. EDT for a live conversation on pursuing unity amid cultural and political conflict.
At denominational gatherings across the country this summer, one topic of conversation has been a near constant: Christian nationalism. Denominations discuss and debate a wide range of subjects at their…
Every semester, I give a lecture to my undergraduates about evangelicalism. Since I teach at a Catholic university in Manhattan, you might expect my students to know at least something…
When I was in sixth grade, I learned my hair made me different. I was 11 and a new student in a predominately white private school in Columbia, South Carolina.…
Pastors Nepthali Zozaya Saucedo and Cinthia Sarai Cardona Otero led their Edinburg, Texas, congregation on Sunday praising God for their recent release from immigration detention and praying for those left…
IN THE MAGAZINE
While the internet seems consumed with political debate, as Christians, we must practice acknowledging cultural fissures and fractures while also placing our ultimate hope in God alone. Christ’s work invites us to work toward repair. As America observes its 250th birthday this year, we both celebrate the American experiment in democracy and speak honestly about it; as Justin Giboney writes in "America 250," "We must be able to critique and appreciate with impartiality." In her essay on notable books, Jen Pollock Michel calls readers to consider how freedom for (not just freedom from) is necessary. Also, historian George Marsden looks back at 1976, the year of the evangelical, and Bonnie Kristian examines Charlie Kirk’s legacy. We hope you’ll spend some time with Angela Lu Fulton’s feature "The Cost of Training Up a Chinese Child," about Chinese Christians who have kept their faith preeminent, and Emily Belz’s reporting on an Anglican church’s support of families healing a year after a school shooting. Whether you find yourself naming fractures or repairing fissures, we hope this will lower the cultural temperature, showing that our faithful work matters but also that Christ promises to make all things new.
