Patton Dodd
San Antonio
author, most recently of: bit.ly/theprayerwheel | Executive Director of Media & Communications, H. E. Butt Foundation
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Articles by Patton Dodd
Telling a new story about San Antonio
Commentaries at the San Antonio Report provide space for our community to share perspectives and offer solutions to pressing local issues. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author alone. You can almost set your clock to these stories. With uncanny regularity, some editor from a big publication reaches out to a reporter in Texas with a story idea: The city of San Antonio is booming. But it’s still really poor. Why is that? Let’s cover it! And off the reporter goes.
What the Nuggets Were For
The late 90s Denver Broncos. The early 2000s Red Sox. And the current era Denver Nuggets. Those are my all-time favorite sports teams—teams I know backwards and forwards like the novels I’ve read five times. These Nuggets have been the best of them because the timeline of their core squad runs parallel to the years my son, Henry, has been a teenager, and he loves them just as much as I do. The seeds were planted when he was five years old and I took him to his first Nuggets game.
Who Is My Neighbour in a Fragmented City?
Today’s post is a guest essay by Patton Dodd. We share an obsession with neighbouring which I am doubling down on this year, having written this post about making it my 2026 resolution. To recap why: Neighbouring is future proofing and resilience planning. Neighbouring is democracy defence. Neighbouring is terrorism prevention Neighbouring can mitigate the challenges of migration Neighbouring is a powerful public health programme.
Significance: What Creates Happiness
Last fall, I attended a gathering of entrepreneurs, artists, intellectuals, scholars and other movers and shakers from the United States and Canada. The gathering was private if not top secret, and I’m not at liberty to say who was hosting it or who was there.
San Antonio needs housing compassion
Commentaries at the San Antonio Report provide space for our community to share perspectives and offer solutions to pressing local issues. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author alone. I’ve spent much of this year talking about local housing challenges to people who have never given the topic much thought. That’s part of my job. Here at the H. E. Butt Foundation, our Know Your Neighbor program exists to share stories of the deep gaps in economic opportunity in San Antonio.
Meet San Antonio's Southside - San Antonio
Why focus a story on San Antonio’s Southside? Let us count the ways. One is because in so many ways, the Southside is San Antonio.
My Inequity, Your Inequity
Appears in Spring 2021 More than any place I’ve ever lived, locals in San Antonio, Texas, tend to understand their city in terms of its four cardinal directions. News outlets here write the parts of town in title caps: North Side, South Side, West Side, East Side.
Sight-Seeing: Praying with Mennonites
24 March 2021 PATTON DODD Via RNS Terrible things have happened in the news these last few days, but know that these things happened too: A loving single father was reunited with his children after months of court-mandated separation; a family whose finances were ravaged by COVID-19-related bills was given more than enough money to get by; three refugee parents, separated from their children and languishing in detention centers, were suddenly set free.
Praying with Mennonites
(RNS) — Terrible things have happened in the news these last few days, but know that these things happened too: A loving single father was reunited with his children after months of court-mandated separation; a family whose finances were ravaged by COVID-19-related bills was given more than enough money to get by; three refugee parents, separated from their children and languishing in detention centers, were suddenly set free.
Commentary: Will cash payments lift S.A. families out of poverty?
Early this year, nearly $2,000 in extra cash appeared in the bank accounts of 1,000 families with low incomes in San Antonio. Over the next two years, those families will each receive a few hundred dollars more each quarter — a fraction of the first installment but enough to pay some bills, grow their savings, help fund a business idea or do whatever else they want to do. That’s the key: The money is theirs to do with as they choose.
Dodd: Look to churches for housing help
One weekend last spring, signs reading “Stop Low-Income Housing” started showing up around my neighborhood in suburban San Antonio. A developer is planning a workforce housing development near our subdivision, and the signs invited us to a purported “community town hall” that would feature a Q&A with the developer in question. But the sign-makers clearly had in mind something more like a rally, and a rally is what they got, with 200-plus aggravated residents packed into a golf club pavilion.
Dodd: Look to churches for housing help
One weekend last spring, signs reading “Stop Low-Income Housing” started showing up around my neighborhood in suburban San Antonio. A developer is planning a workforce housing development near our subdivision, and the signs invited us to a purported “community town hall” that would feature a Q&A with the developer in question. But the sign-makers clearly had in mind something more like a rally, and a rally is what they got, with 200-plus aggravated residents packed into a golf club pavilion.
Patton Dodd: Cities need housing. Churches have property. Can they work something out?
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — One weekend last spring, signs reading “Stop Low-Income Housing” started showing up around my neighborhood in suburban San Antonio. A developer is planning a workforce housing development near our subdivision, and the signs invited us to a purported “community town hall” that would feature a Q&A with the developer in question.
Perspective | Cities need housing. Churches have property. Can they work something out?
One weekend last spring, signs reading “Stop Low-Income Housing” started showing up around my neighborhood in suburban San Antonio. A developer is planning a workforce housing development near our subdivision, and the signs invited us to a purported “community town hall” that would feature a Q&A with the developer in question. But the sign-makers clearly had in mind something more like a rally, and a rally is what they got, with 200-plus aggravated residents packed into a golf club pavilion.
Tim Tebow: God's Quarterback
On a brisk Thursday evening in mid-November, I sat high in the stands at a Denver Broncos home game, covering the ears of my 4-year-old son as the fans around us launched f-bombs at Tim Tebow, the Broncos' struggling second-year quarterback. Mr. Tebow was ineffective and off-target for most of the game, and one of his more voluble and obnoxious critics was standing right in front of us. But the heckler's friend wasn't joining in. "Just wait until the end of the fourth quarter," he said.
A Cold and a Broken “Hallelujah”
Jason Castro on American Idol: "Praise Yahweh." You don’t really care for music, do you? That’s the question put to a brokenhearted lover in the first verse of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” This week, on the occasion of another American Idol season finale, it’s a fitting question for the show itself. “Hallelujah” has been performed on television’s most-watched show four times in the last few seasons, which is but part of the song’s recent surge in popularity.
A city in 12.5 miles
Anyone wanting to get a taste of the economic and social changes affecting people in San Antonio would do well to take a drive down Zarzamora Street. It runs only 12.5 miles, but that short distance covers a lot of ground. Here it is: In that trip, you can see what’s churning in our city. Gentrification? Check. Aging public housing? Check. Boarded up businesses? Check. Struggling traditional schools? Check. Newer charter schools? Check. Historic churches? Check. Distressed houses? Check.
Why Pray?
This morning, as I made my way through the routine of the Lord’s Prayer, I came to “Give us this day our daily bread,” and I pulled up short. I lost my breath. The rest of the prayer could wait. I live in San Antonio, Texas, and last night on Facebook I saw a video by a local pastor named John Garland about the families who are attempting, dangerously and unsuccessfully, to make asylum claims at the United States-Mexico border just over three hours south of here.
The Prayer Wheel [Review]
Abbreviated from the review in our Lent 2018 magazine issue. SUBSCRIBE NOW, and be sure to receive our next issue… A fulfilling prayer life can seem like a white whale to many Christians: faraway, elusive, hard to line up in your sights. If the ideal and reality of prayer fail to match up frequently, disciples tend to turn their faces toward one of three sources of resolution.
A Life's Work of Prayer
Earlier this year in northern Alabama, as my mom hit the final stretch of her decade-long battle with breast cancer, she sat in her hospital bed and turned herself into my agent. Doctors, nurses, friends and family came into the room to check on her, and she pushed my new prayer book on all of them. She told them to buy copies for their church groups and that I would be happy to come speak.
The Anglican Church Is Asking Members to Give Up Plastic Products for Lent
The Lenten season is about giving up indulgences and sins, especially. This season, the Church of England is taking it a step forward and asking people to give up the indulgence of plastic consumer products, which wreak havoc on the environment.
The Many Lessons of Ash Wednesday - RELEVANT Magazine
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2010. If you’re like me, you grew up without much familiarity of the church calendar. You’d probably heard of Advent (or even celebrated it), and you’d probably heard of Lent, even if it just meant your Catholic friends couldn’t eat meat on Friday. But then there was that one day, usually in February or March, when you’d see people all over town with little black smudges on their forehead. What was that about?
Rick Warren, Beth Moore and Kay Warren Discuss Why Churches Must Address Sexual Abuse - RELEVANT Magazine
At Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California this past Sunday, Pastor Rick Warren welcomed Beth Moore to chat with the megachurch congregation about sexual abuse, what it costs victims and the healing process that comes along with it. The discussion was geared towards connecting those who have been abused with those who don’t understand it’s cost. Though she was abused as a child herself, Beth Moore was advised not to speak about it in ministry, as it would put a damper on her career.
If I Could Stop Praying, I'd Be a Good Atheist
If I could just stop talking to God, I would probably be a good atheist today. I lost my faith repeatedly in early adulthood, or so I thought. Raised evangelical, by my sophomore year of college Humpty-Jesus had fallen apart, and all the C.S. Lewis in the world could not put him back together again. I’d believe again briefly, for a stint, but then I’d go to church or read the Bible and realize that no, huh-uh, I had just been fooling myself: This stuff was bunk. Jesus did not walk on water.
A medieval prayer practice changed the Lord's Prayer for me -- and it might for you
For a long time, the Lord’s Prayer (also known as Our Father) seemed like an old, outdated pair of pants to me. It didn’t really fit anymore. Pulling an old pair of pants out of my closet, I ask myself: Did I ever think these looked good? Looking at the Lord’s Prayer, I asked myself: Did I ever think “lead us not into temptation” made sense? When I’m not sure what to wear, when everything else is dirty, when I’m too lazy to think about really getting dressed, there’s that pair of pants.
Las dificultades de las comunidades de bajos ingresos para mantener sus iglesias abiertas
Mora cree que vino a este mundo a ser pastor, así que espera seguir en este trabajo. Pero, por ahora, no se puede ganar la vida de esta forma porque la congregación que atiende está en un vecindario de muy bajos ingresos. Los salarios de los pastores se obtienen de los presupuestos de las iglesias, los cuales se obtienen de los presupuestos caseros de los congregantes. Entonces, en una zona de bajos ingresos, incluso cuando una iglesia crece, su presupuesto no crece tanto, más bien se estira.
Low-Income Communities Are Struggling to Support Churches - The Aquila Report
Communities that are arguably in most need of the social supports churches provide are the communities where churches seem to be vanishing—and where new, upstart church activity is not happening. In 2016, a Barna Group study of 769 church start-ups found that half of them were in wealthier locations. Brooke Hempell, the senior vice president of research at Barna Group, noted that church work in economically disadvantaged or economically mixed areas presents a higher degree of difficulty.
Low-Income Communities Are Struggling to Support Churches
The institutions need money to serve people. But in many cases, they get that money from those they serve.
Low-Income Communities Are Struggling to Support Churches
The institutions need money to serve people. But in many cases, they get that money from those they serve. After leading the New Year's Eve service, Pastor Yoan Mora leaves the Primera Iglesia Cristiana in the West Side neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, on December 31, 2017.
True Justice Work Can't Come With an Agenda - RELEVANT Magazine
For anyone who follows the teachings of a particular religion, and is serious about adhering to its theology, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that person probably has a set of principles, values, and beliefs that form the foundation for his or her faith–a lists of musts they aren’t willing to compromise on. I don’t think it would be a stretch to also assume that person is probably not regularly attending an institution of faith that contradicts anything on that “musts” list.
I hated football. Then I got to know its power - OnFaith
I hate football. I’ve always hated it. My father was a football fanatic. He played at West Point. The Army-Navy game was our annual sacred pilgrimage. The train trip to Philadelphia definitely had its appeal. Win or lose, there wasn’t a dry mouth in the house. But God forbid Army lost. Things would be gloomy around our Army quarters for weeks. Happily, I ended up at a school for girls and then an all-women’s college and then moved to Europe, so I didn’t think about football for a long time.
Patton Dodd
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How to Pray for Your NFL Team - OnFaith
And the fans asked, “How should we pray . . . for our favorite football teams?” Whether it’s a quarterback injury, suspended running back, or penetrable defense, every professional football team will face a situation that could use a little divine intervention. So, here’s a team-by-team guide on how to pray for your favorite NFL team as the 2014 season kicks off. AFC EAST Buffalo Bills Help quarterback E.J. Manuel read the field so he can throw on those inevitable third-and-longs.
Hare Krishna Gets Evangelical - OnFaith
Howard Resnick lives in a second-floor apartment on a quiet Santa Monica side street. Images of Krishna, the supreme god of the Hare Krishna movement, adorn the walls, and an electric keyboard waits in a corner to play Kirtan chants. He helped lead Hare Krishna in its heyday in the United States. Forty years after his conversion, he still wants to share his faith with Americans. But today’s Hare Krishna temples host mostly Indian congregations and sing mostly Indian music.
OnFaith Finds - What to Read Today - OnFaith
Here’s what we’re reading, Favoriting, Liking, commenting on, and otherwise thinking about this morning. – Tabet Magazine publishes a parody in-flight safety video in response to the recent rise in cases of male Orthodox Jews refusing to be seated next to women. (Tablet) – What are the 10 most important changes in each century of the last 1000 years?
Let There Be Arcade Fire
One night near the end of April this year, my wife and I will be on the floor of the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, with several good friends and 20,000+ other people who have gathered for an Arcade Fire show. At some point that night, the band will play "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)" from their latest album, Reflektor.
7 Bible Words to Use When Talking to Evangelicals and Pentecostals About Climate Change - OnFaith
Prior to the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit, evangelicals and Pentecostals have been missing from the conversation — and apparently from the list of invitees. One or two evangelical signatories on a statement calling for divestment from fossil fuel stocks does not mean evangelical involvement. The interfaith event has been mostly liberal Protestants, Hindus, some Muslims and a variety of other houses of faith. Some notable Catholics added their support. That’s not going to do it.
What Will the End of the Offering Plate Mean for Christian Worship? - OnFaith
Churches have tried all sorts of ways of raising money: membership dues, pledges, bonds, patronage, investments, bulletin advertising, fees for services, gift shops, holy day activities, cultural festivals, facility rentals, “poor boxes,” and honorary dedications. But in America, the most widely used of all the fundraising tools is the collection plate. It was not always thus.
Confessions of a Millennial Church Curmudgeon - OnFaith
I confess, I’m a Millennial church curmudgeon. Although the stereotypical image of a “church curmudgeon” is the bad tempered elderly man, arms crossed, complaining about how the music is too loud and the pews too soft, I am still a curmudgeon to be reckoned with. Donning a bow tie and skinny jeans, with dark-rimmed glasses and a pair of loafers, I strut into churches with one mission — to judge it and its ministry. I’ll nit pick the artwork, or lack thereof.
The "Rise" of Rapper and Pastor Trip Lee - OnFaith
Trip Lee is a 27-year-old rapper, husband, and father of two. He’s also planting a church in Atlanta — yes, he’s a pastor — and late last year he released his fifth studio album, Rise, which quickly hit #1 on the iTunes charts. And he’s just published his second book. Rise: Get Up and Live in God’s Great Story, the companion book to his latest album, comes out today, January 27.
The Quasi-Religious Roots of Weezer - OnFaith
Last week, Marc Maron’s popular WTF podcast featured his interview with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. Over the course of his 500+ interviews, Maron has quietly become an exceptional religion journalist — seriously, he hardly ever lets a guest go by without digging into the person’s spirituality — and his conversation was Cuomo was no exception.
Seven Types of Christian Tattoos - OnFaith
For many Christians, there used to be only one tattoo choice: No tattoo. Citing Leviticus 19:28, believers in the recent past embraced a no-ink injunction. But that’s changing, and it’s changing fast. Just 10 years ago, sociologists at Texas Tech found that “strength of religious faith” correlated weakly with “having a tattoo, being interested in tattoos, or being likely to get a (or another) tattoo.” But in 2014, that no longer seems to be the case.
The Best Writing on American Religion You'll Read this Year - OnFaith
The other morning I awoke from within a crystal-clear dream, the kind that lingers so long you catch a whiff of it throughout your day. In it, I was teaching Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side to a group of college students. I was teaching it as if my life depended on it, and the students were learning as if their lives depended on it.
When the Good Book Goes Bad (Or, How the Story of Noah Floods People of Faith) - OnFaith
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years talking to Christians who have lost their faith or who are wavering in what they believe and considering for the first time a life without faith. Many of these tales follow a similar pattern: 1. I was raised Christian or I’ve been a Christian for [insert large number] years. 2. At some point, I realized I had never read the Bible — at least not closely. So I decided to read it. 3. Holy crap! Have you seen what’s in the Bible?
5 Things Everyone Should Know About America's Religious History - OnFaith
Peter Manseau is a journalist, historian, and novelist. His most recent book, One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History, is a deeply researched account that challenges standard Christian perspectives of the country’s story. Here, he offers a list of counter-intuitive facts about religion in America. Far from a twenty-first century problem, the fraught relationship between Islam and Christianity shaped the earliest interactions between the Old World and the New.
OnFaith Finds - What to Read Today - OnFaith
Here’s what we’re reading, Liking, Favoriting, Re-tweeting, and raising our eyebrows at today in the world of religion news and views. – Why is it so hard for conservatives and progressives to talk to each other about gay sexuality? You’d be hard pressed to find a better explanation for the ongoing conflict than this one by Wesley Hill.
OnFaith Finds - What to Read Today - OnFaith
Here's the haps in our reading list this morning, from the 2014 religion vote to Instagram essays to spirit animals: - Neuroscientists are studying why people choke. The study would be more useful if we could retroactively apply its lessons to the Denver Broncos in last season's Super Bowl.
Ben Bradlee: Newspaperman, Family Man, Friend - OnFaith
Ben Bradlee, a legendary American newspaperman and son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather, died last night in his Georgetown home at the age of 93. We already know that everyone respects Ben Bradlee. For those of us at OnFaith, it’s been a delight to witness that so many people love him, too. Bradlee was editor of The Washington Post from 1965 to 1991. OnFaith was founded at The Post in late 2006 by Sally Quinn, a longtime Post columnist and Bradlee’s wife of 36 years.
True or False: Do You Benefit from Christian Privilege? - OnFaith
Islamophobia — the fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims — is not a liberal meme. Islamophobia is a real and insidious ideology that believes there is something innately wrong with Islam and its adherents. It’s the reason CNN anchors were unable to grasp Reza Aslan’s point that “Muslim countries” are not all alike.
OnFaith Finds for Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - OnFaith
Here’s what we’re reading, Liking, Favoriting, Re-tweeting, and raising our eyebrows at today in the world of religion news and views. – A new poll released today by LifeWay Research finds that many people who self-identify as “evangelical” hold all sorts of heretical views on basic Christian doctrines. (Christianity Today) – John L.
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