Summer usually is a high-water mark in youth ministries — a time of long hours but tremendous growth. Summer allows youth ministers to spend more time with students, going on lunch outings or to the movies, and traveling for hours…
Trend toward online learning gives seminaries an advantage amid COVID
CBF-partner theology schools are making significant shifts as they prepare for a fall semester to commence in the middle of the global pandemic. After finishing the spring semester with online instruction, some are planning to offer a variety of options…
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‘Activist kind of church’ says disaster response in its DNA
By Chris Hughes HOUSTON – When the news of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas and Louisiana reached members of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., they only had one question for Chris Ellis: “When are we going?” Within a…
Engaging Compassionate Curiosity on Sexuality
In a recent visit to the Wake Forest Divinity School, Baptist minister and PhD candidate Cody Sanders shared reflections on his book, Queer Lessons for Churches on the Straight and Narrow, and the intersection of the church and human sexuality….
Let’s stop gambling on (youth) ministry
When it comes to youth ministry the church has a gambling problem, according to Nashville-based youth expert Mark DeVries. In his important work, Sustainable Youth Ministry, he suggests that the practices of many churches in the work of youth ministry…
Reflections on “The Way, Way Back” and why I believe in youth ministry
This week I had the chance to catch the new movie The Way, Way Back. In the film, the gangly and awkward teenage protagonist Duncan is having difficulty finding his place. His adolescent growing pains have only been compounded by his mother’s…
Conversation and hiring policies: This is not about that.
“A [Baptist] Conversation on Sexuality” did many things for CBF Baptists, including creating an open forum for people of differing theological beliefs to sit across from one another and talk. It welcomed more people from differing perspectives on issues of…
Talk about sexuality isn’t enough
By Chris Hughes A [Baptist] Conversation on Sexuality did many things for CBF Baptists, including creating an open forum for people of differing theological beliefs to sit across from one another and talk. It welcomed more people from differing perspectives…
CBF Task Force Report: A new way to Collaborate
Sharing. Collaborating. Networking. If I were to summarize the CBF Task Force Report to the General Assembly, specifically about the Ministries Council, then those would be some of the buzzwords that keep rising to the surface. The idea is this:…
Resolve to find God’s presence outside the church
By Chris Hughes We’ve all made the mistake Jacob did when he woke up from sleep and declared the warm stone under his head “Bethel,” the house of God — as if X marked the spot for God’s dwelling place….
Telling a better Baptist story
By Chris Hughes There is power in stories, especially in ministry. Stories define us and help us navigate our way through times of change. Having hope for the future of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship means we remember our story and…
The End Times as Emergency Exit
By Chris Hughes In his 2010 sermon for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, Bill Leonard shared his views about the End Times. “If the rapture comes and I’m still on this earth,” he said, “I’m not going.” “I’m going…