Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Podcast: The skeptics have their say

Podcast: The skeptics have their say

Meet "The Skeptics," a DIY lay version of God Squad — they're a group of politically and spiritually diverse group of people who've been meeting once a week for years (in some private location that for some reason they're not letting on to). Lucky us — we'll meet four of the Skeptics (a Catholic, a Protestant, a Mormon, and an atheist) who have forged deep friendships by gathering regularly to discuss spiritual topics in a respectful manner where disagreement is both welcomed and appreciated. They'll let us in on an hour of their private conversation and even lend a little support to new Skeptic groups that might be inspired to launch. Facilitated by Village Square Founder Liz Joyner and featuring The Village Square's Bill Mattox — both a veteran of more God Squad programs than he'd imagine and a member of "The Skeptics." Also a Skeptic, former NACo President Bryan Desloge.


God Squad: The Skeptics Have Their Say

God Squad: The Skeptics Have Their Say

open.spotify.com

Read More

A Baseball Team Caught Between Two Countries — a Visa Shift and a Shutdown

The Tucson baseball team playing against the Águilas de Mexicali in the border city of Mexicali. Photo courtesy of the Tucson baseball team

A Baseball Team Caught Between Two Countries — a Visa Shift and a Shutdown

NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO — What was meant to be a historic first for America’s pastime — a Mexican Pacific League baseball franchise anchored north of the border — has become a bureaucratic curveball.

The newly relocated Tucson, Arizona, baseball team — formerly the Mayos de Navojoa from Sonora, Mexico — has yet to fulfill a long-held dream shared by fans on both sides of the border: bringing professional Mexican winter baseball to U.S. soil.

Keep ReadingShow less
From Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar: How Protest Music Still Shapes America in 2025
Bob Dylan | Xavier Badosa | Flickr

From Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar: How Protest Music Still Shapes America in 2025

Pop music has always been more than entertainment. Reflects society’s struggles, dreams, and contradictions.

Across the last fifty years, artists from Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar have given voice to war and peace, protest and resilience, identity and equality, economic struggle and hope. Their lyrics, written for a moment in time, echo with startling relevance in 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Don’t Be a Working Class Hero — Just Imagine!

John Lennon’s “Imagine” comforts, but his forgotten songs like “Working Class Hero” and “Gimme Some Truth” confront power — and that’s why they’ve been buried.

Getty Images, New York Times Co.

Don’t Be a Working Class Hero — Just Imagine!

Everyone knows John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

It floats through Times Square on New Year’s Eve, plays during Olympic ceremonies, and fills the air at corporate galas meant to celebrate “unity.” Its melody is tender, its message is simple, and its premise is seductive: If only we could imagine a world without possessions, borders, or religion, we would live in peace.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Elephant in the Room’ Is a Rom-Com for Our Political Moment

The Elephant in the Room is available now to rent or buy on major streaming platforms.

Picture Provided

The Elephant in the Room’ Is a Rom-Com for Our Political Moment

Discerning how to connect with people who hold political views in opposition to our own is one of the Gordian knots of our time. This seemingly insurmountable predicament, centered in the new film The Elephant in the Room, hits close to home for all of us in the broad mainline Protestant family. We often get labeled “progressive Christians” — but 57% of White non-evangelical Protestants report voting for Donald Trump. So this is something we can’t just ignore, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

While the topic seems like a natural fit for a drama, writer and director Erik Bork (Emmy-winning writer and supervising producer of Band of Brothers) had the novel idea to bake it into a romantic comedy. And as strange as it might sound, it works. Set during the early days of COVID-19, the movie stars Alyssa Limperis (What We Do in the Shadows), Dominic Burgess (The Good Place), and Sean Kleier (Ant-Man and the Wasp).

Keep ReadingShow less