Inflamed racial tensions, a divisive election season and alarming climate events — all during a pandemic — have stretched American psychological well-being to the limit. But there also are some potential spiritual positives from the coronavirus era, according to five…
Survey says: When parents reduce church attendance, so do their teens
Most American teens share the religious identity of their parents, and many attend services as often as the adults in their lives, according to a new survey. The Pew Research Center study reported that 81% of Catholic teens adhere to…
Here’s practical help for mental health during the pandemic
It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in psychology to determine that months of social and political strife combined with a deadly pandemic have negatively impacted mental health nationwide. In fact, it takes only a brief Google search to learn that just…
Baylor engineering students hope to design aid for notable alumna
A group of Baylor University engineering students is working to design a medical device for Allison Dickson, a Temple, Texas, resident with a rare and progressive form of muscular dystrophy. Dickson, 40, who uses an electric wheelchair she nicknamed the…
Collaborative plan emerging for Hurricane Laura relief work
Collaboration between two Baptist organizations has resulted in a plan for long-term disaster recovery work in Lake Charles, La., the coastal community devastated by Hurricane Laura Aug. 27. Leaders with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and National Baptist Convention of America…
Program connects rural pastors for fellowship and education
A group of rural ministers is nearing completion of a fellowship designed to widen their perspectives on faith, church and their own ministries. “It caused me to take a hard look at myself,” Leonard Edloe said of the Fellowship for…
Encourager Church program thriving despite pandemic
Trinity Baptist Church in Seneca, S.C., hasn’t let a pandemic get in the way of deepening its commitment to missions. The congregation is leaning into its Encourager Church relationship with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Scarlette Jasper in Kentucky and…
Q&A with Christen Green Kinard on pandemic church communications
Christen Green Kinard says she has no formal religious education, but as the child of career missionaries, she knows the right things to educate churches about their online ministry during the pandemic. Kinard is a communications professional and daughter of…
Churchgoers say they’ll return to in-person worship
Churches leaders needn’t worry about losing faithful members to virtual services after the coronavirus outbreak subsides, recent polling suggests. “Just 2% of the pre-pandemic regular attenders think that in the long run they will watch services online or on TV…