Honking for Jesus: Churches adapt, ponder reopening after lawsuit
On May 17, a typical sunny spring Sunday in this community of churches, congregants gathered for religious services all across Haywood County much as they’d done hundreds or thousands of times before.
Choirs warmed up. Pianos tinkled in the background. Pastors shuffled papers and pamphlets at podiums, testing the microphones and speakers and projectors. Worshipers parked themselves in place and prepared for the sermon.
Confession is good for the soul
Some bare their souls to priests and ministers. Some seek out therapists and counselors. Some look for help from friends and family members.
And some write books.
My church embraces LGBTQ members
By Nina Dove • Guest Columnist
When I walked into a Reconciling Ministries meeting at my church (First United Methodist Church of Waynesville) four years ago, I had very few expectations. The Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) is an organization devoted to promoting the inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ persons in the church. Having been raised in a church with a large percentage of retired ministers, and retirees in general, I was cautious about our chapter of RMN; I assumed, walking in to the room, I would see primarily young and middle-aged adults, and perhaps one or two crotchety homophobic elders only there to voice their dissent. Not that I thought that people over 65 were incapable of being open-minded, but to some extent I believed the stereotype that older people, especially religious ones, would refuse to accept gay people.
Acknowledging differences and embracing brotherhood
For many years, I thought of myself as one of Flannery O’Connor’s “Christ-haunted” characters, living my life in a kind of perpetual spiritual limbo, unable to turn my back on religion altogether, equally unable to fully embrace it. I sometimes felt that Christ was chasing me back to church, and Christians were chasing me right back out of it.
A life stranger than fiction: Local author releases novel of true-life confessions
As Royal Phillips packs up her belongings that signify the last 20 years she’s spent in Waynesville and prepares for her next chapter in Palm Springs, California, she can’t help but to feel like her life has come full circle — and what a crazy circle it has been.
Brunch Bill is about better business, not religion
It’s one of those issues that garner headlines and controversy but really shouldn’t.
I’m talking about the Brunch Bill, the law passed by the state legislature that allows businesses to sell alcohol starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday if they want. Many municipalities and counties around the state have supported the law, deciding to let local businesses make that decision for themselves.
Religious community opposes Jackson Brunch Bill
If the two Jackson County commissioners considering a “yes” vote on Sunday morning alcohol sales were looking to the community to encourage that point of view, the crowd that turned out for a public hearing on the issue March 19 certainly didn’t deliver.
Finding civility in a polarized society
Globalization has made our big world seem much smaller, but it’s also pushed us farther away from one another.
Instead of focusing on finding common ground with those who have opposing religious or political views, society segregates itself with others who believe the same way they do.
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Speakers call on interfaith work for social justice
Participants take home renewed faith
Speakers call on interfaith work for social justice
Christian Perspective
The Rev. T. Anthony Spearman hadn’t even started his talk from the Christian perspective, and already there wasn’t a dry eye in the Harrell Auditorium. More than 200 people listened intently as a black man on the projector screen sang “Make Them Hear You” from the Broadway musical “Ragtime.”
Participants take home renewed faith
It’s easy to grow weary in a world that is deeply divided and when efforts to reach out to the other side prove futile.