In mourning the recent death of saxophonist Clarence Clemons Timothy Egan has a column in the New York Times about the significance for rock fans of the interracial friendship of Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen He revises Martin Luther King Jr s famous observation about Sunday morning bei

I write as a dad to other dads Put down your phones when you re with your children I know how hard it can be to resist the lure of the latest update emanating from your device but is it just me or are fathers given or taking much more cultural permission for ignoring their kids in favor of

UPDATE 13 June 2011 The links below are now fixed-- I m taking a break from the goings-on at the Annual Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America with our characteristic intense wash of theologizing and the even more important rejoining of long-term friendships which is where

A few days ago I went with my friend B on a walking tour of NYC rock sites in lower Manhattan The tour was sponsored by Rocks Off and was led by concert promoter and musician Jake Szufnarowski a deeply knowledgeable and friendly guide to all things rock and roll We met at Union Square Park ne

What is the role of a church situated in the midst of cultures of musicianship Two news features over the past month caught my attention and seemed to be connectable in a way significant for theology and music One feature by John Leland in the New York Times describes a new evangelical churc

This post is a letter of qualified recommendation for a very funny smart and frequently profane set of conversations that happen on the WTF podcast I was not a podcast-kind-of-guy until I heard this show hosted by the comedian Marc Maron Twice a week he posts interviews recorded in his ga

Recently David W Stowe wrote an editorial for the New York Times titled Jesus Christ Rock Star Stowe is the author of No Sympathy for the Devil Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism University of North Carolina Press 2011 I have not yet read the book but f

In the midst of all the important things going on in the church and the world is there room for another word on Lady Gaga If influential theories of popular culture are correct there is more reason than ever because popular media culture -- for better and for worse -- contributes to creating an

I wonder if there are some Lady Gaga students and theological aficionados out there who can help parse the significance of her role in contemporary popular culture I am late to the party having been led to Gaga by my undergraduate students who get her symbolic order on a more intuitive level

For the past few days I have been at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan for the Festival of Faith and Music Count me as one who begins with reflexive skepticism at any attempt at the Christian engagement with culture type of conference because of the tendency for Christian pastoral wo