This month, the Hartford Institute for Religion Research released a foundational report about the health of America’s churches and the leaders that serve them in
“If you’ve never been there, why do you care?” Anna Johnson asked on our way from South Bend to Goshen, Ind., in a 12-passenger van to pick up the rest of our carpool heading to Washington, D.C., on a subzero January morning.
There will be no Christmas in Bethlehem this year. At least not any large festivities. The tree in Manger Square will not be decorated. In one church nativity, the baby Jesus lies in a pile of rubble.
I am a child of Egyptian immigrants who survived the wars between Israel and Egypt. When I consider the current conflict in Israel-Palestine, I feel solidarity with the Palestinians. We share a language, a landscape, a culture.
