This past Sunday, April 27, my family and I attended St. Luke Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Champaign. I had never attended a CME church before and so I really did not know what to …
Posts by Ryan Neaveill:
Middle-Class Begging
I love the musical My Fair Lady (which was based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw). There is a scene in which Eliza Doolittle’s father gives a wonderful speech about poverty: If I …
The Church Hopper #2: Wesley United Methodist Church
Sometimes, when I visit a church for the first time, I feel like Dorothy when she says: “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” And other times when I visit a new …
The Church Hopper #1: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Urbana
OK, I admit it. I’m a church hopper. I have been hopping around from one church to another for a few weeks now with some kind of naïve belief that there might actually be a …
Say Two Prayers and Call Me in the Morning
“Are you even a Christian?” This is one of the gentler responses I sometimes receive from conservative evangelicals who cannot comprehend that a fellow Christian would criticize certain aspects of our faith. I like this …
Champaign-Urbana Churches That Welcome the LGBT Community
I did a little soul searching this week and realized that I was turning into a curmudgeon. Yes, I have used a thick slab of this column space to whine and complain about a lot …
God Damn Us, Everyone
I admire and support Barack Obama. I am looking forward to seeing him in the Oval Office after he is sworn in next January 20. I also admire and support Obama’s long-time pastor, the Rev. …
C-U Ministers and Their Mansions
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches; I must make amends. —Janis Joplin The Bible contains a lot of wisdom about wealth. In fact, wealth may be the …
What Does The Bible Really Say About Homosexuality?
There is a bill in the Illinois House (HB 1826) that, if passed, will give same-sex couples the right to be joined together in a civil union. This bill has a dozen or so sponsors …
Gun Rights People Have It All Wrong
I don’t really understand the pro-gun folks. They put those little Burma Shave-like signs out in the cornfields that tell us how guns save lives. They complain that the State of Illinois doesn’t allow them …