By Dr. Lewis Brogdon
Executive Director of the Institute for Black Church Studies, BSK Theological Seminary
In 2021, I wrote an op-ed titled The Fight for the Soul of America, published in the Courier Journal. It was a reflection on the moral chaos engulfing the United States — not a partisan critique, but a deeper lament about the nation’s character. That piece emerged from the toxic political climate and spiritual confusion of the time. I warned that America was losing more than its way — it was losing its soul. Churches, overwhelmed or complicit, often lacked the clarity or courage to provide moral guidance. That essay was my first public attempt to frame the crisis not just as a political issue, but as a profound spiritual and theological reckoning.
Later that year, I followed up with a deeper analysis titled Is America Ready for the Next Crisis?, published in Christian Ethics Today. That piece widened the frame. It addressed our national inability to learn from past crises — especially COVID-19—and our collective refusal to prepare for what’s coming. In it, I explored how theological malpractice, arrogance, and disinformation have made us not only vulnerable but morally incompetent. The question wasn’t simply whether we could endure the next crisis — but whether we even wanted to know the truth about ourselves.
Now, four years later, I have written a new article: Christian Witness in an Age of Change and Collapse. It is the most urgent of the three. Released in June 2025, it builds on the previous two pieces but speaks to a different moment—one marked by increasing social unraveling, climate disruption, authoritarian threats, and spiritual fatigue. Yet this article is not only about diagnosis. It is about calling the Church to recover a bold, discerning, public witness in an age that desperately needs prophetic clarity and pastoral integrity.
These three essays, written over four years, are not just reflections — they are part of my broader work as Executive Director of the Institute for Black Church Studies. Under the Institute’s auspices, I’ve worked to bring together public theology and national advocacy through partnerships with organizations like JustFaith Ministries, Black Politics Today, and Christian Ethics Today. I’ve offered prayers at the Vatican, the South African Embassy, and the National Press Club. I’ve also participated in a White House meeting alongside other African American leaders. These platforms matter only if we use them to confront the deepest crises of our time.
Through these essays and through the work of the Institute, I am calling pastors, theologians, scholars, activists, and citizens of good will to recognize this moment for what it is: a test of our collective moral imagination—and a summons to act.
I invite you to read the original pieces from 2021. Let them remind you how far we’ve come — and how far we’ve fallen. Then, I urge you to engage Christian Witness in an Age of Change and Collapse. Let it stir you. Let it unsettle you. And then let it move you — to prayer, to truth, and above all, to faithful action.