The issue of female ordination is threatening to define the future of ecumenism and Orthodoxy at large.

Although historic women’s ordinations are obviously a point of pride for mainline denominations like the ABCUSA, women still have to break through the “stained glass ceiling."

Theologically, The Rings of Power carries a powerful warning. The Empire is all around us, obscured by our need to rationalize our desire for peace without justice, power, indifference, and greed.

Progress protecting religious minorities is now under severe threat. As Protestant churches in western Ukraine prepare to receive refugees from the frontline, a long shadow of Russian military presence is spreading across the country. Ukrainian Baptists are simultaneously hopeful and careful.

Concerns for the mighty and the oppressed sit uncomfortably side by side. I believe this is often due to the fear of being called out as “biased,” “political,” or “ideological.” As an antidote, some churches adopt the stance of impartiality, sitting on the fence on important moral issues such as reproductive rights, or challenging imperialism, racism, and xenophobia.

Ukrainian women fleeing into Poland face restrictive abortion laws that mirror what could happen in America