The End of Roe and Decline of Mainline Protestant Churches

As we gnaw on the paws of our grief and foreboding regarding the Supreme Court and Roe, RD's editor-in-chief reminded me of the beautiful Tom Davis tribute to the Rev. Howard Moody that this magazine published following Mr. Moody's death ten years ago. This in turn got me thinking about what my Protestant tradition calls the "prophetic office" of the clergy, in which a responsibility to resist unjust power is supposed to join the "teaching office" (i.e., faithful preaching and religious education) and the "priestly office" (administration of the sacraments and pastoral counseling) as one of three core ministerial responsibilities.