By Beth Newman Since 2006, representatives from the Baptist World Alliance have held annual meetings with counterparts from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Each year has had a central focus and the dialogues have concerned, successively, Scripture,…
Discipline as a form of care
By Beth Newman Not too long ago, someone shared with me an instance of attempted church discipline. A pastor, on his own initiative, had approached a church member who had left her family to pursue a relationship with her “soulmate.”…
Friendship as a gift from God
By Beth Newman The other day my son was talking to me about the playground antics of a little girl named Candace. It was obvious that Candace was quite a live wire and that he found her extremely amusing. As…
Being a people of the Word
By Beth Newman Who was the sage who observed that “no matter how cynical you become, it’s impossible to keep up?” The latest example of this particular eternal verity is the procession of the secretary of the Treasury Department, the…
A true ‘Bold Mission Thrust’
By Beth Newman Years ago (more than I like to remember), I did Southern Baptist home-missions work in Paducah, Ky. At the beginning of my sojourn there, I received a small hand mirror, which came in a glossy case embossed…
View scandal in light of private and public story
By Beth Newman The recent spectacle of John Edwards’ confession of adultery managed to be at once pathetic and instructive. While bearing in mind Lily Tomlin’s observation that no matter how cynical one becomes, it’s impossible to keep up, I…
What the church can learn from tomatoes
By Beth Newman On a recent Sunday, the gospel lesson in our church was Matthew’s account of the parable of the sower and, more significantly, the different soils into which the seed is cast. A little reflection of the fate…
Hearing the full story
By Beth Newman Years ago I saw a foreign film about two brothers and their father. One brother, against his father’s wishes, decides to become an actor and travels far and wide. The other stays close to home, caring for…
Lawley’s Chapel and the communion of saints
By Beth Newman The oldest, central section of graves are marked by nothing but stones, probably carried up from that creek. Any names that they might have borne are long since gone. The landscape probably remains fairly unchanged, however, since…