“The Weekend Wanderer” is a weekly curated selection of news, stories, resources, and media on the intersection of faith and culture for you to explore through your weekend. Wander through these links however you like and in any order you like. Disclaimer: I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within these articles but have found them thought-provoking.

“State of the Great Commission” – From The Lausanne Movement: “We are pleased to release the much anticipated State of the Great Commission Report. This key document in the Lausanne 4 journey shares insights from more than 150 global mission experts and sheds light on how we as a global church can be obedient to Jesus’ Great Commission today.”

“Rowan Williams – The Problem of Prayer” – Rowan Williams interviewed on The Nomad Podcast in 2017: “What actually is prayer? What happens when we do it? What difference can it make, if any, to the events and circumstances we find ourselves in? Should we expect to sense God in prayer, or perhaps even hear him communicate to us? And if so, why do so few of us ever seem to have these sorts of experiences. For many of us, these questions, and others like them, have led us to a place of disillusionment and prayerlessness. And yet we still yearn for the deep, rooted, holistic connectedness that prayer promises. So we brought these questions, and others, to Dr. Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalen College, Cambridge, former Archbishop of Canterbury, and expert in the history of Christian spirituality. He’s known as a man of great wisdom and deep spirituality. And he didn’t disappoint!”

“Books By the Bed” – John Wilson in Prufrock: “On both sides of our bed upstairs, there are books. Wendy has a standing bookshelf against an interior wall, next to the head of the bed (the entire Brother Cadfael series, which we both love; lots of poetry; books in a range of genres by Wendell Berry; the three volumes of Kristin Lavransdatter in Tiina Nunnally’s translation; devotional books; and more). I have a series of stacks more or less level with the bed and running alongside it, with a narrow ‘passageway’ by means of which I get in bed. From bed we can look to the right to the large windows facing west (where, for instance, in the wee hours, we sometimes watch the moon set). Many of the books in my bedside stacks are by writers I particularly admire; many (though not all) are fiction or pertaining to fiction. I read lots of different things, including a good deal of poetry, but those books are mostly elsewhere. The stack next to the foot of our bed includes a bunch of books by Viktor Shklovsky, including Energy of Delusion: A Book About Plot, which could be the subject of one of these columns down the road. The next stack includes all the books of A.G. Mojtabai (mostly novels). If you haven’t ever tried her, please do so. Now would be a good time to catch up; she has a new book coming from Slant around the end of the year. (Here’s a piece I did for First Things on her most recent book, Thirst, a novella.)”

“‘Resurrection’ to be released in April 2025” – In Evangelical Focus – Europe: “Twenty years after The Passion of the Christ was premiered, it has been confirmed that release of its sequel, Resurrection, is planned for April 18, 2025, Good Friday. Although there was speculation that the film might be split into several parts, news website Il Timone points out that this information has not yet been officially confirmed. Mel Gibson has brought back actors from the original cast, including Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern and Francesco De Vito, and the film was shot in Israel, Morocco and Italy. According to Edward Pentin of the National Catholic Register, the film will cover the events leading up to the Resurrection, but will also follow the intrigues that took place in Herod’s palace and conclude with the events that took place in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday. Last year, Mel Gibson, speaking about the release of the film, said that he had two scripts ‘one of them is very structured and very strong script and kind of more what should expect and the other is like an acid trip. You have to really consider what it is that you need to show in order to be poignant. It can’t be linear. You have to have many things to juxtapose against one another even from different time periods and it requires entering in other realms and dimensions,’ he added.”

“Here’s the No. 1 Thing That Influences Gen Z’s Happiness” – At Relevant: “A new survey found that Gen Z is actually pretty happy. According to a new Gallup poll, 73% of Gen Z said they are either very (25%) or somewhat (48%) happy right now. That’s pretty startling considering reports over the last few years show that Gen Z has struggled with mental health more than any other generation. However, despite fluctuating mental health on top of a global pandemic, socioeconomic instability, etc., it seems that a majority of Gen Z has figured out how to find happiness. So, what exactly drives happiness among Gen Z? The study points to a crucial factor: purpose.”

“AI priest quickly defrocked after giving users oddball answers, taking confessions like ‘real’ clergyman” – Patrick Reilly in New York Post: “Forgive me father, for I’m a sim. An AI priest was defrocked just days after its inception after the chatbot repeatedly claimed to users that it was a real member of the clergy and performed sacraments. ‘Father Justin’ is a handsome, gray-bearded 3D animated parish priest in a cassock intended to answer users’ questions about Catholicism. It was launched by the San Diego-based Christian group Catholic Answers on Monday as an interactive educational tool — but the AI insisted it was a real priest living in Assisi, Italy, according to tech website Futurism. In a screenshot of an exchange with the AI that one woman posted online, the computer priest even appeared to take a woman’s confession — and then gave her penance and absolved her of her sins.”

Music: Vampire Weekend, “Hope,” from Only God Was Above Us