In the ministry, I find myself on the front lines of people’s deepest pain. A young mother diagnosed with cancer; a husband deciding to leave a marriage; alcoholism, addiction, severe depression, suicide, bankruptcy, financial struggles, miscarriages, the sudden loss of a loved one, and much more. Ministers get invited into situations that many others never see or even hear about. All human beings suffer to various degrees. This is simply inevitable. What is fascinating is how different people process and handle their pain and grief in a variety of ways. Some seek......

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Retired Harvard theologian Harvey Cox has observed that at some point in the middle of the twentieth century, Christianity began its gradual transition into what he calls the “Age of the Spirit.” However, it is clear that “spirituality” means different things to different people. In his book The Future of Faith, published exactly ten years ago, Cox argues that there are three basic reasons why spirituality remains on the rise. First, it is a form of tacit protest that demonstrates why a growing number of people are dissatisfied with shrinking the faith (Christianity......

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