We wrap up our "Religion & Violence" series this week in North Carolina with a decades-old story. Since the bombings that rocked the Free Welcome Holiness Church’s parsonage and sanctuary on Sellerstown Road near Whiteville 35 years ago, pastors hired there often hear something like this: “You mean you’re going to preach at that church that used to get blown up all the time? You’re gonna get shot.” That’s how the Rev. Roger Coffey, the church’s current pastor, remembers the dire warnings he heard in 2001. But for those on Sellerstown Road who experienced the 10 bombings from 1972 to 1978, plus the shootings of a pastor and his wife there, the memories are still close.
This week, Faith & Values news is exploring what happens when violence crosses thresholds in churches, synagogues and mosques. We’ve learned about church safety, mosques set ablaze and how congregations are preparing for the “when” — not “if” — attacks will happen.
In Spokane, churches teeter on a delicate balance of opening their doors wide and locking them tight. One church caters to people who can sometimes be aggressive or hostile. How do they minister to individuals in crisis and keep their own flock safe?
There’s been a lot of talk about millennials and their place in the ever-changing religious landscape in America. Millennials my age have been through a lot in since the turn of the century that has shaped our spiritual paths in ways rarely experienced by previous generations of Americans.
In 2005, when I moved to a small town in the Pacific Northwest from the San Francisco Bay Area, I decided I would “get spiritual.” I had no clue what this might mean but I wanted to scratch it from my “To-do” list.