The 122nd global gathering of the Baptist World Alliance begins July 8 — a year later than originally planned and online due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. BWA announced the virtual version of its three-day World Congress…
Author was called to action by hearing KKK leader describe his racist ‘Damascus Road experience’
Author Susan K. Williams Smith was sickened to learn that a passage from the New Testament inspired Samuel Bowers’ to launch the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s. Smith’s new book, With Liberty and Justice…
Churches adapted rapidly to the pandemic, but there’s a mental health cost to that success
The rapid and creative responses churches made to address the COVID-19 pandemic created significant stresses on church leadership and laity both, one of the nation’s leading religion researchers said in a recent webinar. “The staggering amount of change that (occurred…
It’s time to ‘untangle the embedded patriarchal strongholds,’ BWIM leader declares
New manifestations of the church emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic will include more openness and opportunities for women called to ministry, but it may take decades for that acceptance to become widespread in Baptist and other Christian spaces, Meredith Stone…
Yes, Americans are divided, but so are citizens in other countries as well
Americans increasingly have become known for what divides rather than unites them, but it turns out Americans aren’t alone in this disunity. Citizens in other parts of the world, including many industrialized nations, believe their societies have become increasingly divided…
Baptist advocates for Equality Act say they are motivated by love of freedom as a faith virtue
Advocating for the Equality Act offers a meaningful way to push back against the faith-based white supremacy that oppresses LGBTQ Americans just as it always has done to women, people of color and members of minority religions, a panel of…
Less than half of American adults have a will, and few are reminded by their churches of why this is important
New research showing that 46% of U.S. adults have wills directing the distribution of their estates after death hardly came as a surprise to David King, director of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University. “That percentage…
More advocates needed to counter Christian nationalism, BJC leader urges
Increased faith-based advocacy is needed to counter Christian nationalism and other anti-democratic forces that sparked the Jan. 6 insurrection and that seek a theocratic future for the nation, according to Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious…
Women and men called to advocacy for women as ministers and leaders in ABCUSA
Lay and ordained women have made solid gains in leadership within the American Baptist Churches in the USA, but far too many continue to face obstacles within the denomination and in its churches, Patricia Hernandez told a virtual gathering of…
Churches united in action could bring healing to the nation, ABCUSA and NBC speakers declare
Churches unified in prophetic, compassionate action are needed to bring healing to the nation’s political, religious and racial wounds, according to participants in a June 23 New Baptist Covenant gathering. The virtual event, held in advance of this week’s American…
Gallup finds a sharp political divide on American views of moral values
Nearly half of Americans believe the nation’s moral values are in poor condition, and a significantly higher percentage predict those standards are only going to get worse, a newly released Gallup poll has found. But the survey also found political…
Arkansas panelists describe capital punishment as ‘legalized lynching’
People of faith must rise up against capital punishment as a system of legalized lynching and retribution designed to suppress people of color through intimidation, torture and death, according to a recent panel of legal experts and anti-death penalty advocates….