Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society writes about his arrest on July 28, 2011, along with ten other faith leaders from several religious traditions, for praying in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol during the recent budget debate in Washington. more

As I approach my seventieth birthday, I’m spending more time remembering how fortunate I was to have been raised in a loving family, where, as an only child, I was treated as something special. Well, almost all the time. more

Jesus tells us, via the Gospels of Matthew (15) and Mark (7), that what defiles us as humans is not what goes into our mouths as physical food, what is then digested in our stomachs and intestines for nourishment, and what finally comes out of our bodies as waste through other orifices. No, what defiles us as human beings, according to Jesus, is what enters our mouths as words, digested then in our hearts (or souls), and—depending on what humans manage to make of that digestion—exits by way of the mouth again so that good or evil results. more

With President Obama’s signature, the Budget Control Act of 2011—passed by the U.S. House on August 1st and the U.S. Senate on August 2nd—became law on Tuesday, August 2nd, just in time to avoid defaulting on our nation’s obligations. The bill raises the debt limit, avoids new revenues altogether, and relies solely on budget cuts to reduce the federal deficit. more

The August 2nd deadline for raising the debt ceiling and preventing the federal budget going into default looms ever closer. A vote on a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been put off apparently, but new demands for deeper cuts “right now” are now being heard in Washington. Illinois schools, health care, human services and public-safety efforts are still at grave risk. more

Staff and board members of PCG attended a press conference last week, calling for an increase to the minimum wage in Illinois. more

Rev. Phil Blackwell, pastor of First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple and one of PCG’s Board Chairs, spoke on a panel of individuals for and against the recent passage of the bill to expand gaming in Illinois. more

The current debate about the federal budget negotiations and deficit-reduction strategies demands that we pay close attention to what’s going on in the U.S. Congress, especially since the results of those negotiations will have a dramatic impact on Illinois, given our long-standing fiscal crisis. more

If we ever get tired of calling God “Father,” which is just one of over a hundred metaphors used to describe God in the Bible—Creator, Rock, Fortress, Mother Hen—we can use “Rider of the Clouds.” more

Confusion about the “real” meaning of Jesus’ familiar (and evidently authentic) parable of the sower and the seed could have a simple explanation: he was just having a bad day on all sorts of fronts. more