June 13, 2025

This edition is sponsored by IWU Bridge Initiative

weekend reads

This week, our editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt reported on the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Dallas. The group did not enact major reforms: “They didn’t vote to shut down their long-standing public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). They didn’t go ahead with a constitutional amendment barring churches with women as pastors. They didn’t adopt sweeping new requirements for financial transparency.”

Delegates did vote to condemn sports betting and passed a comprehensive call for criminalizing pornography, as well as resolutions favoring government restrictions on abortion pills and the overturning of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that legalized gay marriage.

As part of this week’s programming, the SBC Executive Committee sponsored a panel on abuse—but did not mention Jennifer Lyell, an editor and author whose promising career in Christian publishing was derailed when she accused a former SBC leader of abuse. Lyell died last Saturday at the age of 47.

P.S. Tomorrow is Father’s Day, and we’re honoring dads with a gift for everyone. Now through June 15, new subscribers can save $10 on a digital subscription or $20 on a digital + print subscription. Visit OrderCT.com/FathersDay to subscribe and save.

Some recommended Father’s Day reading from this week at CT and from our archives:

Every young father I know is a great dad, writes one of our editors. That’s a sign of hope.
Taking paternity leave made one journalist a better Christian dad: “Obliging a father to rush back to work just a week or two after birth stacks the deck against that vocation in all sorts of ways.”
Reports of the death of fatherhood have been greatly exaggerated, argues our columnist: “Some of us actually want to be like our dads when we grow up. … You might not know this from how we tend to mark Father’s Day.”
Models of Christian forgiveness—and lots of prayer—allowed a woman with a traumatic childhood to “release my visceral hatred of the man who’d brought me endless shame and regret. … Though I thought my father was the villain, I now see how he had suffered himself.”

Southern Baptists Vote to Denounce Sports Betting, Endorse Bans on Online Porn

The Millennial Dad Dividend

weekend listen

Pastor and author Jon Tyson sits down with Mike Cosper for a conversation about rites of passage for boys and his book The Intentional Father.

“We need blessing before we work. If we do not get that, all of our work will be for the blessing we feel like we do not have.” | Listen here.

P.S. A “watch” recommendation: The latest season of The Chosen comes out on Amazon Prime tomorrow. Read our review, and then learn about the first blockbuster portrayal of Jesus on screen in the 1927 silent film The King of Kings.

Jon Tyson on Fatherhood

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editors’ picks

Sara Kyoungah White, editor: The novella Foster by Claire Keegan. I held my breath the whole time waiting for something twisted or catastrophic to happen—and came away instead with a renewed sense of hope. You can hear the Irish lilt in every word.

Bonnie Kristian, editorial director, ideas and books: This orgeat is not alcoholic, just an almond-lime syrup. You can use it in cocktails, of course (tiki!), but it also would make a mean limeade.

Elise Brandon, copy editor: A friend recommended this birthday countdown app she uses to get reminders for friends’ birthdays in time to send a card, text, or gift. I’m planning to try it out for my friends’ and family’s summer birthdays coming up.

prayers of the people

For Christians in Brazil, where evangelicals now account for more than a quarter of the population. | Read this story in Portuguese and learn more about our translation efforts.
For young evangelicals in Europe eager for revival: “Our generation is very open to the gospel, more than generations before.”
For Christian Dalits facing discrimination from Hindu groups in India.
For pro-life efforts in Nigeria.
“Things worth living for: Sunlight. My family. The smell of melting snow. Church coffee in Styrofoam cups. Dear God, everything I am and will be belongs to you.”

The Injustice of Inconsistency

The problem isn’t that South Africans are coming to America. It’s that the door is closed to Haitians, Burmese, Sudanese, Yemenis, Venezuelans, Ukrainians, and everyone else.

Worship Music Made with ‘Bubba in Mind’

Barstool conversion rock from artists like Jelly Roll is masculine, country, and faith flavored. Why is it so popular right now?

Christian Reformed Church to Discuss Professors Who Disagree with Doctrine

Calvin University proposes differences on sexual ethics can be worked out with three-year process of discernment, mentoring, and prayer.

Help Wanted at Christian Camps

Summer experience can be transformative, but many programs find themselves short-staffed.

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IN THE MAGAZINE

It’s easy to live in a state of panic, anxiety, and fear, from the pinging of our phones to politics and the state of the church. In this issue, we acknowledge panic and point to Christian ways through it. Russell Moore brings us to the place of panic in Caesarea Philippi with Jesus and Peter. Laura M. Fabrycky writes about American inclinations toward hero-making. Mindy Belz reports on the restorative work of Dr. Denis Mukwege for rape victims in Congo. We’re also thrilled to give you a first look at the Global Flourishing Study, a multiyear research project about what makes a flourishing life across the globe. While panic may be profitable or natural, we have a sure and steady anchor for our souls in Jesus.

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