Interfaith Dialogue & Youth Ministry

In this blog post, originally published on the blog of the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), Rachael McNeal, a Masters in Divinity candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary, reflects on the question: “What is it about Jesus that makes you want to do interfaith work?”

Click here to read this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Social Action and the Eastern Orthodox Church: Where Do We Go from Here?

In this week’s guest blog post, D. Vasilis Schairer, a graduate student at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, reflects on the history of Eastern Orthodox involvement in social issues and poses an interesting question: if a religious tradition places value on the “transformative relationship between two persons,” what challenges does that raise for religious communities in collaborating with nonprofit or government programs?

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Evangelism and Evangelicals: An Impasse for Interfaith Social Action?

In this week's guest post, Sara Staley, a Master of Theological Studies student at Boston University, reflects on challenges and opportunities for evangelical Christian involvement in interfaith social action.  

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

"Homes for Our Neighbors"

Today, The Dallas Morning News published "1,000-church group urges acceptance of housing for the homeless," an article by Kim Horner about the Greater Dallas Justice Revival's partnership with the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance and Dallas Housing Authority.

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Religious Services and Social Action

In past posts, we have considered the extent to which faith can or should shape action in the public sphere. This week we’ll consider a related issue—the relationship between social action and communal religious practices.

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Finding Common Ground

In past posts, we have considered the question of the extent to which religious differences can or should affect interfaith social action efforts.

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Politics and the Pulpit: Carter Lindberg on Martin Luther

The relationship between religion and politics in the United States is at times a contentious issue. One only needs to examine the Internal Revenue Service regulations on tax-exempt organizations and political activity to see that for religious leaders, deciding how or whether to address social and political issues from the pulpit may not be a simple task.

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Compassion and World Religions

This week, on May 24, The New York Times published an opinion piece by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, entitled “Many Faiths, One Truth.”

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“Pray Hard and Work Hard”: Dr. Ron Sider’s Call to Action

Last week, we turned to the insights of Dr. Ruy Costa of Episcopal City Mission in order to consider the relationship between scripture and social change. Today we turn to an article from someone who also finds a call to justice in the Christian scriptures: Dr. Ronald J. Sider.

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"You Always Have the Poor with You": Scripture and Social Change

After one of my first letters to the editor on behalf of Social Action Ministries in support of Housing First and ending homelessness was published in an out-of-state newspaper, I took the opportunity to read the comments posted online underneath my contribution.

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Housing and Human Dignity

Last week, we began to reflect upon a shift from emergency responses to permanent solutions—a shift that is rooted in the conviction that we cannot in good conscience allow homeless shelters or the streets to be considered acceptable “housing” for any members of our society.

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Dr. King's Easter Message

On April 4, 2010, many Christians celebrated Easter, the Christian holy day marking the resurrection of Jesus. In a CNN opinion piece, Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., chair of the Center for African-American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Princeton University, notes that this year the anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., coincided with Easter.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.