Recently, I watched Netflix’s 2019 film, The King. The film depicts English King Henry V’s victory over the French in the Battle of Agincourt. It all happened 606 years ago today, October 25th, 1415. What I didn’t expect was the end of the film. It brilliantly illustrates a challenge that continues to derail US EvangelicalsContinue reading “Our Evangelical Betrayal”
Author Archives: Jared Stacy
Hope For, But Not In, Evangelicalism
I still believe the best days for Evangelicalism are ahead, not behind. But I say this well aware that Evangelicalism in the United States is experiencing a multi-faceted crisis of identity. We cannot reduce God to a movement, but our attempts to do just that are being exposed in the current crisis. So let’s beContinue reading “Hope For, But Not In, Evangelicalism”
The Problem of Pandemic Theology
Everyone is doing pandemic theology, even politicians. Recently, the governor of Mississippi said belief in eternal life was one major explanation for why Mississippians aren’t scared of COVID-19. Incidentally, Mississippi has the second lowest vaccination rate in the US; just 37% of residents were vaccinated as of August 27th. We’re all doing pandemic theology, evenContinue reading “The Problem of Pandemic Theology”
American Christians in American Empire
Like many of you, I have watched the videos and listened to the reports coming out of Afghanistan with a mixture of grief & anger. Few of us are trained experts in geopolitics. Most of us add little with our takes. But if you’re like me, and I’m wagering you are, it’s not geopolitical expertiseContinue reading “American Christians in American Empire”
An American Fourth In Britain
I’m sitting in our flat here in the UK. It’s a dreary morning. The mist hangs on the windows. I watch our three kids eat their breakfast. I’m thinking of William Stacy, someone like my fourth great uncle in 1775. When he heard about the British at Concord he grabbed his commission from the Crown.Continue reading “An American Fourth In Britain”
Southern Baptists: On the Brink of Reform?
The 2021 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was always going to be historic. It promised to reveal the pulse of America’s largest Protestant denomination, as well as offer a preview of post-Trump American evangelicalism. The convention indeed delivered a historic moment. But its future remains uncertain—because the tradition of white American evangelicalismContinue reading “Southern Baptists: On the Brink of Reform?”
Truth From The Dark Places of Church
There’s a line from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness that I can’t shake. “This also has been one of the dark places of the earth.” The place? London. A place we often forget was once the wild frontier of the ancient Roman Empire. When I left my job as a pastor in the SBC forContinue reading “Truth From The Dark Places of Church”
A Modern Parable for American Evangelicalism
The sports world is still talking about the second title fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston in 1965. In all this, I believe, is a parable of modern American evangelicalism. We are throwing the fight of our generation, choosing power over Christ, and the world can tell. Neil Leifer famously captured Ali, standing overContinue reading “A Modern Parable for American Evangelicalism”
The Power of Myth
Today fewer Americans than ever identify with a formal religion, just 47%. Yet, Americans remain overwhelmingly religious. The same Gallup poll also found a record number of Americans choosing to identify as “religious” with no affiliation. America is more religious, even as it grows less ‘Christian’. Christianity isn’t facing persecution in America as much asContinue reading “The Power of Myth”
Not So Biblical Manhood
The popular evangelical vision of Biblical manhood is not as Biblical as it might appear. Before I stepped away from pastoring in American evangelical spaces, it wasn’t uncommon to hear manhood attached to cultural expressions (hunting, guns, emotional suppression) and yet it was always cast as “Biblical”. But the vision sure is lucrative. From studiesContinue reading “Not So Biblical Manhood”
Jared Stacy 