I love genealogy, and when I started digging into my family tree, I was expecting the usual things: farmers, coal miners, preachers, maybe a horse thief or two. What I did not expect was to discover that my ancestry is basically held together by Butts, Dicks, and Belchers. That’s not a metaphor. That’s literal. I […]
I Come From Butts, Dicks, Belchers… and Almost Fried Chicken Read More »
One of the most overlooked moments in the life of Jesus happens early, before the crowds, before the healings, before the Sermon on the Mount. It happens quietly, in the wilderness. In that story, Jesus is offered something far more seductive than comfort or bread. He is offered power. Real power. Political influence. Control over
The Temptation Jesus Refused (and the One American Christianity Accepted) Read More »
CACREP’s recent memorandum, temporarily suspending the 2024 standards on “underrepresented populations,” attempts to sound procedural and neutral. But behind the careful phrasing is a larger truth our field keeps avoiding: we talk endlessly about diversity, yet we have no coherent definition of who is actually underrepresented. CACREP never tells us. The memo doesn’t either. And
When Diversity Becomes a Box-Checking Game: A Response to CACREP’s New DEI Suspension Read More »
I don’t wake up thinking about my skin color. It isn’t part of my self-understanding, it doesn’t guide how I move through the world, and it certainly isn’t the foundation of my identity. My family came from the hills of Kentucky. That means something to me… the stubbornness, the loyalty, the humor, the small-town grit,
“Just an Old White Guy” Read More »
When I was twelve or thirteen, my parents came home from what felt like a spiritual revival for families. They’d just returned from one of Bill Gothard’s weeklong Basic Youth Conflicts seminars; those massive evangelical events that could fill entire stadiums in the 1970s and early 80s. They brought back binders, books, games, and a
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in life is that reassessing your beliefs is not the same thing as caving to pressure. It’s not cowardice. It’s not compromise; it’s growth. Throughout life, we should be constantly examining our positions and our direction. We move toward a value we believe in, and often that value
Beyond Symbols: Living by Values, Not Flags Read More »
I’ve spent much of my life teaching, counseling, and raising kids of my own, and one thing I keep noticing is how often the best of our intentions lead us in the wrong direction. We step in to protect or advocate, certain that we’re doing the right thing, only to realize later that our “help”
When Helping Hurts Read More »
When I first started as a Child Protective Investigator in Arizona in the early 1990s, cultural competency training was still in its infancy. I went into those sessions eager to learn. I wanted to be responsive, respectful, and effective in my work. But what I encountered was something very different from what I had hoped
Cultural Competence or Cultural Stereotyping? Read More »