Baptist News Global – Conversations that matter

Students and alumni express concern about restructuring of OBU’s storied music program

One of the premier schools of music among Baptist universities will be diminished in stature by restructuring this summer. News of dramatic changes to the Warren Angell College of Fine Arts at Oklahoma Baptist University broke on Facebook March 4,…

Pandemic plans: Keep on coping

We have been battling COVID-19 for a year. 2020 already stands unique in the annals of our memories. And 2021 seems to continue the trend. Hospitals, schools, universities, churches, stores, restaurants … no destination or gathering place has been immune…

Learning to breathe in the Spirit by confessing, ‘I can’t breathe’

At various times in the biblical narrative, the Hebrew people gathered memorial stones in sacred spaces. These rock formations served as places of remembrance for all to see and be reminded of the power and transformative nature of God. May…

Does landmark religious freedom legislation need a fix or is it fine as is?

Does the landmark Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 need a legislative fix? Some Democratic Congressmen and religious freedom advocates believe so, which has prompted a renewed attempt to resolve problems they believe have been created by conservative court rulings…

How to follow a leader

We see many American citizens proclaiming an inseparable love of God and country right now. Although it has a new tenor, we have depended on this idea to justify our national actions in domestic and world wars, environmental disasters and…

Black Baptist women in ministry and the principality of patriarchy

As we march into Women’s History Month, I’ve been thinking about women in ministry, particularly Black Baptist women in ministry. This area is especially near and dear to me as my wife, Betty Wright-Riggins, is a woman in ministry. Betty…

Author of Eugene Peterson biography was one of many shaped by America’s pastor

Some of Winn Collier’s most cherished moments with the late Eugene Peterson include sitting quietly with the pastor, author and translator of The Message Bible in his Montana home overlooking Flathead Lake and the Mission Mountains in the distance. “When…

Transitions for the week of 3-5-21

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Wade Allen, to United Church of Canandaigua, N.Y., as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of First Baptist…

Evangelicals are in trouble: Reclaiming ‘Oberlinism” could bring some redemption

Evangelicals are in trouble in the land of the free and the home of the Trump golden statue, that 6-foot sculpture that debuted at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. Watching the iconic ministrations surrounding it, I wondered…

How I learned to care about social justice growing up Southern Baptist in Oklahoma

Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

What I learned by listening to women pastors during the pandemic