The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture

This past Sunday the church around the world did a strange thing. It began a new year in the Liturgical Calendar and entered, once again, into the season of Advent. This is strange for, at least, two reasons.
First, it is strange because of where we begin. The Church Calendar is not merely a calendar; it is an avenue of discipleship, a way of inhabiting time that—if we let it—can draw us deeper into God’s life and form us in Christlikeness. Each year we journey...

I sat across from my plate,
stomach doing summersaults.
My abuela’s hard-won labor

Leviticus, the book where attempts to read through the Bible in a year die. The initial rush of enthusiasm lasts through Genesis, with its primeval history and patriarchal narratives, rides the emotional high of Exodus 1–20, struggles through the legal...

When I was studying for a journalism degree I came up against a tough secular mindset from my lecturers and fellow students. In the course, the church was a free target to be mocked or bashed. In fact, the Dean of the course called me into his office...