The Archive

Every essay.

Jake MeadorChurchCommunities

Where Did the College-Aged Evangelicals Go? - Commonplaces

I’m trying a new format out with some short-form videos. Here’s our first foray: You can subscribe on YouTube to get alerts when we publish more videos. I’ll also likely cross post them here as well.

Leah Libresco SargeantFeatured

In the Perilous Realm: Tradition and Memory in "The Rings of Power"

At the waning of the year, looking ahead to the blaze of Christmas, I’ve been reexamining Amazon’s adventures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium. The first season of The Rings of Power was a moral muddle, but the story was strongest when […]

Andrew BeerBibleFeatured

St Paul the Word Sower

“Word sower” deserves reviving. It comes from the Douay-Rheims translation of Acts 17:18: “What is it, that this word sower would say?” The word sower in question is the Apostle Paul, visiting Athens. “Word sower” is a literal rendering of […]

Jake MeadorFeatured

Best of Mere Orthodoxy 2022 - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

We’ll be back with our usual year-end Eliot Awards next week. For now I wanted to spotlight the work we’ve done this year at Mere Orthodoxy. I’ve said it before, but I’m gonna keep saying it: This has been the best […]

Jake MeadorFeatured

A Faithful Second Voice: Announcing Mere O's 2022 End of Year Campaign

To the readers, friends, and supporters of Mere Orthodoxy The Peace of Christ be with You, “Most of the people that show up at our church now want a therapist. I’m not a therapist.” That’s what a pastor said to […]

Jake MeadorChurchCommunities

Stop Blaming COVID - Commonplaces

A story from RNS: For the first time since 2018, thousands of college students will gather a few days after Christmas to talk about God’s mission to the world and their place in it. Organizers of Urbana 2022, a missions […]

Jake MeadorChurchCommunities

Stop Blaming COVID - Commonplaces

A story from RNS: For the first time since 2018, thousands of college students will gather a few days after Christmas to talk about God’s mission to the world and their place in it. Organizers of Urbana 2022, a missions […]

Jake Meador

Nine Months After Twitter - Commonplaces

It’s been nine months now since I stopped regularly monitoring Twitter and more or less automated my account. If you want to know why I did that, read this. If you want to know how it works from the tech […]

Jake Meador

Nine Months After Twitter - Commonplaces

It’s been nine months now since I stopped regularly monitoring Twitter and more or less automated my account. If you want to know why I did that, read this. If you want to know how it works from the tech […]

Ian Harber and Patrick MillerFeaturedChurchFormation

My AI Spiritual Director

After years working as a doctor in a hospital, a friend shared the most frustrating part of her job: patients whose online, amateur medical research weighs more heavily in their decision making than her professional opinion. She ended with a […]

Matthew LoftusFamilyCulture

Christian Moral Pedagogy and Penumbrae of Power - Doctors Without Boredom

There are different levels of responsibility for churches and Christians. How do we sort them all out?

Matthew LoftusFamilyCulture

Christian Moral Pedagogy and Penumbrae of Power - Doctors Without Boredom

There are different levels of responsibility for churches and Christians. How do we sort them all out?