Understanding Ireland’s Vote Approving Same-Sex Marriage

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 6 2015

Her name is Muriel. She is the 86 year-old widow of an Irish farmer living near the city of Kilkenny in the southern part of the Irish Republic. She is …

Thoughts on Baptizing Chapman Thomas Brinegar

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 30 2015

This past summer in a lovely chapel quite literally on the coast of Maine, I had the pleasure of baptizing Chapman Thomas Brinegar. A baptism is something I hardly …

The Charleston Murders: The Final Battle in the Civil War?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 16 2015

It was a brutal murder of nine people in an AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The victims, including their pastor, who was also a member of the South …

An Open Letter to My Readers

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 2 2015

This week, my column takes the form of a letter to my readers. It is an unusual format, but it speaks to the unusual occurrences in our nation this …

The Graduation Season 2015

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 28 2015

It is the graduation season. On university and college campuses around the world people gather in a highly-ritualized pageant to mark a point of transition in many areas of …

Marcus J. Borg 1942-2015

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 29 2015

He was one of the giants in the Christian faith during the last 25 years, widely read, widely known and widely respected. He was a quiet man, humble and unassuming, …

“Fear Not” – The Message of Christmas in a Frightened World

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 18 2014

Christmas will dawn in 2014 in a world gripped by a growing sense of fear. We have recently experienced that pervasive emotion in almost every phase of our life in …

Insights from Behind the Iron Curtain

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 4 2014

I made my second trip in the last two years behind what was once known as the Iron Curtain recently. There I saw the impact of communism that had …

Do Our Seminaries Prepare Clergy for Today’s World?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 27 2014

Writing about the Theological School at Drew University this past week caused me to think about theological education in general and my own theological education in particular. I loved …

The School of Theology at Drew University Installs Javier Viera as its New Dean

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 20 2014

From time to time, I have an experience inside organized Christianity that is filled with such excitement that it creates in me the hope that there might be a …

Cancel