Scarritt Bennett Center Blog

Anatomy of a Schism

What would happen if the lives of five Baptist clergywomen were set at the center of a conversation about changes to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over the last four decades? Author, researcher, and Central Tennessee professor of practical theology, Dr. Eileen Campbell-Reed does just...

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A Mid-Week Sabbath Break

Thomas Merton wrote in his book, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight In Our Busy Lives: “There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence. . . [and that is] activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form perhaps the common form,...

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On the Road to Emmaus

In the resurrection account in Luke, the story is told of two followers of Jesus who left Jerusalem the first day of the week following the crucifixion. They were heading for Emmaus. While in Jerusalem they had experienced the excitement of Jesus’ trip into the...

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Hospitality as Resistance

Although we often think of hospitality as a tame and pleasant practice, Christian hospitality has always had a subversive, countercultural dimension. “Hospitality is resistance,” as one person from the Catholic Worker observed. Especially when the larger society disregards or dishonors certain persons, small acts of...

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Peace

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he...

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Hospitality: A Way of Doing Justice

“Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ” -St. Benedict Is hospitality a forgotten virtue? Has welcoming the stranger, become too scary? Have we forgotten Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 when he separated the nations based on their actions regarding the hungry, those without clothes, the...

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