Associations are revealing.  This morning, as I was drinking a cup of horrid office coffee, my brain leapt from the specific brand and flavor of coffee my mom drank when I was growing up to a seemingly unrelated bit of biographical information about a photographer I’d researched while working on a...

I’m working on a book that focuses on connecting the Church with the arts and artists. As it’s been forming, God has brought this question to my mind, “What if integrating the arts into the Church is more than just a nice idea? What if this integration is essential to the maturity of...

Pretty much anything that could go wrong with the live Church Hopping event to the Church of St. Anselm in the Bronx went wrong—and then God proved He’s in control of everything.  I figured God only gives you one miracle per day, and I wondered what would happen once we left St. Anselm’s for...

People hurt us. Misrepresent us. Abuse us. Sometimes we have an advocate. But many times we are left with wounds and painful memories. I considered this in the last piece “Spare the Son.” As writers and readers we participate in a ceaseless dialogue that can destroy, confuse or distract....

Late afternoon on the day before the second live Church Hopping event, I got an email.  The tour guide who was supposed to lead the architecture talk had suffered a heart attack.  He was alright, but he wouldn’t be able to lead the tour.  The person emailing me asked if I could lead it without...

photo (c) Stephanie Nikolopoulos I imagine that all New Yorkers have at least one story involving St. Patrick’s Cathedral, regardless of whether or not they’re Catholic.  I grew up just over the George Washington Bridge, in New Jersey, and the cathedral looms large in my relationship with, and understanding...

photo (c) Stephanie Nikolopoulos Have you ever stopped to really look around your own city?  Have you ever considered the history behind the buildings you pass every day?  Has a church’s beauty ever stopped you in your tracks? This past Saturday, with the support of our very own Burnside Writers...

In the last piece “Whose Banner?“, I challenged us to name our loyalties and reveal our hypocrisies. This piece takes us one step further. Not only do we need to consider for whom we do battle but a deeper question must also be raised, “Why fight?” The philosophical-religious...

Whenever my friend from Tokyo visits New York, she wants me to plan our itinerary.  If I ask her what sort of things she wants to see or do, she’ll inevitably respond that she wants to see art galleries.  She’s awesome.  I eagerly begin combing listings for exhibits and then quickly remember...

Edvard Munch’s classic work The Scream set the stage for a series of contemplations about art and faith. In the first installment, I suggested there is a breeze blowing in the Christian world that may change the way we perceive our Christian identity. Postmodern angst and isolation have made...