Word has been received of the recent death of Sarah Frances Anders, a trailblazer for Southern Baptist women in ministry and past moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Anders, a longtime sociology professor at Louisiana College, died June 8 at…
BNG Promoted Content
Tickets still available for the Friends of BNG dinner in Atlanta
This year’s Friends of BNG Dinner during the CBF General Assembly will feature a creative approach to the faith-based news organization’s emphasis on hosting “Conversations that Matter.” The program for the June 29 event, which begins at 5:30 p.m., at…
Transitions for the week of 06.23.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Jim Ailor, to Rhoadesville (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim preacher. Kevin Allen, to First Baptist Church, Stephenville, Texas,…
Montreal Catholic Church will fingerprint all priests working with children
The new rule is part of a 10-step screening process first tested in a pilot project launched last year.
Did Billy Graham’s wife shape their son Franklin more than he did?
Franklin followed his father into the pulpit and succeeded him as head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. But Franklin’s temperament and tone — more uncompromising than Billy’s in his prime and later years — are closer to his mother’s.
The Church, the pain and the opioid crisis
It begins with the pain. A 2011 study by the Institute of Medicine suggests that one in three Americans “suffer from chronic pain.” For Coloradan Melissa Morris the pain began after C-section childbirth. Her doctor prescribed Percocet, and even the…
Christian leaders call for criminal justice reform
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter joined 96 other Christian leaders supporting a campaign for criminal justice reform announced June 20. Spearheaded by Prison Fellowship, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, National Association of…
Maybe instead of solidarity, the Religious Left should try being indivisible
The religious left—again, such as it is— is committed to unity at all costs, including the cost of asking women, gays and lesbians to take a back seat to economic concerns and immigration reform. It has to this point been…
US Catholic bishops committee dismayed over Trump’s new direction on Cuba
Disappointed with President Trump’s decision to reverse U.S. policy on Cuba, a committee of American Catholic bishops is calling on the president to keep ordinary Cubans in mind as he curtails trade and tourism.
The Rev. Henry Lyons forced out as pastor of Tampa church amid accusations of theft, misconduct
The one-time leader of the largest black Baptist organization in America — toppled by infidelities and imprisoned on fraud charges — has kept a relatively low profile while running a century-old church in Hillsborough County the last dozen years.
Have eulogy, will travel
Before gaining fame and fortune for creating “Star Trek,” Gene Roddenberry wrote for a popular Western called “Have Gun — Will Travel.” Having been born in early 1964, I missed the last episode by only a few months. So I…
Whatever happened to evangelism, part 2
In my last column, we learned that evangelism is alive and well even though it may not look like “old-fashioned soul winning.” Instead, the 21st-century approach is imbedded in the church’s ongoing service, morphing into new shapes which are culture-sensitive….
Baptist leaders say Trump’s Cuba policy is a step backward
Baptists working to foster fraternal relationships between churches in the United States and Cuba criticized President’s Trump plan to roll back some of the steps that President Obama took to open relationships between the two countries. “Effective immediately, I am…
Ken Ham disputes reports the Ark Encounter is sinking
Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham is disputing reports the ministry’s Noah’s Ark-themed park is taking on water.