Tag Archives: Leaders & Institutions

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, recently announced that he would step down by year's end. A few days later, the Church of England rejected a Williams-backed unity plan for global Anglicanism, a church fractured by issues of gender and sexual identity. The timing of the resignation and the defeat are probably not coincidental. These events signal Anglicans' institutional failure.

Benedictines like to say listening is the heart of monastic life. “Listen” is the first word of the Rule of St. Benedict that we follow. Listening to God, to each other, to the head of the community are all part of what defines who we are as monastics. But if we were to be really honest we would also say that listening is very difficult. So when I saw that some Gonzaga alumni were protesting the choice of Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a commencement speaker it struck me that listening is precisely what is so lacking in public and religious discourse in our society today.

Catholics and Protestants came together at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral on Good Friday to celebrate the unity they share in the life and resurrection of Jesus. It was the second year the cathedral hosted an ecumenical Tenebrae service. The Rev. Jeff Lewis explained the service is one of the …

Many startling self-revelations can occur through the process of entering seminary. The battery of psychological exams, including the 600-question, entirely true-false formatted exam called the Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI, proved especially enlightening for me. The MMPI is designed to flag those candidates with severe pathologies. In short, it’s …

View more photos here. Tracy SimmonsTracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a …

Twice a year members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints come from all over the world to gather in Salt Lake City and recharge their faith. General Conference took place over the weekend and Spokane resident MaryBeth Wagstaff said it left her feeling inspired and encouraged. “It …