Mere Orthodoxy

Crisis and Covenant

Hayden Nesbit — Fri, 15 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT

The information age has, in many ways, brought about a deep slumber. With eyes transfixed on devices and ears filled with endless streams of content, many are effectively sleepwalking and can no longer hear the world around them.

How to Help Include Children's Ministry Volunteers in Worship

Dave Strunk — Fri, 15 May 2026 10:59:59 GMT

Effective church ministry exists on a spectrum of the ideal on one side and ‘what people will actually participate in’ on the other side. Let me tease out each side of this spectrum.

The Midlist, the Middlemen and the Future of American Literature

Nadya Williams — Thu, 14 May 2026 11:00:01 GMT

A few years ago, an academic acquaintance published a groundbreaking work of scholarship with a top academic press for his field. About a year later he got a report from the press informing him that his book, the fruit of a decade’s labors, had sold fewer than 100 copies. He seemed a bit shell-shocked by the news. At least it got him tenure.

The Miracle of Communion: to Know and to Love as God

Vika Pechersky — Thu, 14 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT

“It is my spirit that addresses your spirit”―Jane Eyre.

To Live Well: Bonus Question and Answer

Alan Noble — Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:01 GMT

Editorial note: Recently Mere Orthodoxy hosted a webinar with Alan Noble, author of To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times. Noble kindly agreed to answer in writing a few more of the questions that webinar attendees had submitted, but that for reasons of time, he was unable to get to during the webinar. We think these questions, submitted anonymously during the webinar, may be of interest to other readers and are grateful to publish this Q&A as a resource. The questions and answers have been minimally edited for clarity.

Whose Time? Whose World?

Joseph Minich — Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:01 GMT

Hartmut Rosa. Time and World. Polity, 2025. $22.95 pb. 228 pp.

Why Are There So Many Billionaires?

Edward Song — Tue, 12 May 2026 11:00:01 GMT

Forbes has been producing its annual list of the world’s billionaires since 1987. Despite landing at the height of 1980’s excess, that original list seems dowdy by today’s standards. In 1987, there were 140 billionaires on the planet. The world’s wealthiest person was the Japanese real estate tycoon, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who was worth $20 billion. Tsutsumi would only rank #33 on this year’s list, even after adjusting for inflation.

The Forgotten Evangelicals of Colorado Springs

Jonathan Clark — Tue, 12 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT

I was in college in New York City in 2010 when I first heard the title, “Evangelical Vatican” to refer to my hometown, Colorado Springs. Born and raised in the city, I am the product of its religious and political reputation: homeschooled for 13 years, attending George Bush rallies in 2004, trained in a Christian liberal arts college, and now back home as an evangelical Presbyterian minister. When a fellow pastor commended Jesus Springs: Evangelical Capitalism and the Fate of an American City (2025) to me, I knew I had to read it carefully–and even let it “read” me.

'Institutional Poverty' in Charles Dickens and Barbara Kingsolver

Susan Bruxvoort Lipscomb — Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:01 GMT

It’s a truism that American trust in institutions is at a low ebb. As we look at the institutions that serve us, we tell stories of scandal, corruption, cover-up, overreach, hypocrisy, and incapacitating bureaucracy. The Victorian novels lining my office shelves launch similar critiques. Elizabeth Gaskell wrote about unsafe working conditions in underregulated factories; Charlotte Brontë depicted the abuse of children in charity schools; Charles Dickens satirized the court system; Anthony Trollope poked at self-righteous church leaders. And all critiqued the hypocrisy of “pious” Christians who don’t act according to the ideals they profess.

12 Theses on Fasting and Feasting

Stephen Williams — Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:01 GMT

I wish someone had told me ten years ago that time would be the thing most needed for the rhythms of the church calendar to “get into my bones”, and this in spite of the great enthusiasm with which I began my own participation in the Year of Our Lord 2015.