Advent, Twelvetide, and the Unreasonable Hope of Christmas

By Katherine Billotte-Kelaidis It is a little bit awkward for me  to sit down to write about “pop culture and Advent,” because a) I am from a tradition in which Advent as such does not exist (and I promise to explain below) and b) it seems to me that popular culture has, over the past…

The Lyrical Faith of Sufjan Stevens

By Carina Julig Though he is not a ‘Christian musician,’ indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has built a cult following among Christian listeners, and his haunting music has a deeply religious quality. Stevens’ ethereal songs frequently convey musings about faith, while at other times, he is directly talking to God. Religious imagery is especially prominent in…