Hurricane Laura’s damaging foray through Louisiana and parts of Texas is inspiring faith-based collaboration in disaster response efforts that are complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and National Baptist Convention of America International plan to…
Beirut explosion brings sorrow and memories for 91-year-old missionary
Like people around the world, Frances Fuller was deeply grieved by the Aug. 4 explosion that killed nearly 200 people and displaced another 300,000 in Beirut, Lebanon. But for Fuller, 91, watching the indescribable carnage was personal. She saw in…
Pastor writes historical fiction about Galveston’s ‘Great Storm’ of 1900
The Great Storm that destroyed Galveston, Texas, in 1900 offers relevant lessons to a nation and world struggling through the coronavirus pandemic, according to minister and lifelong Houston resident Greg Funderburk. He is the author of The Mourning Wave: A…
BNG to present free webinar on pandemic mental health
Baptist News Global will host a webinar Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. Central Time to address the mental and emotional impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The event follows recent BNG news reports about the effect the COVID-19 outbreak is having…
Here’s another thing they don’t teach pastors in seminary
The coronavirus is challenging the creativity of preachers as the pandemic continues to keep many churches in virtual spaces. Months of speaking into camera lenses, laptop screens or empty sanctuaries week after week leaves some clergy feeling deprived of a…
Baptist universities making big changes to reopen this week
As students of all ages stream back to school — whether virtually or in person — Baptist universities are among the institutions implementing new strategies due to COVID-19. Mercer University in Macon, Ga., invested about $750,000 to create an on-campus…
Q&A with Elijah Brown about BWA response to the pandemic
There’s a lot going on in global ministry in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and that means there’s a lot going on at the Baptist World Alliance. The Falls Church, Va.-based international ministry is responding spiritually and financially to the…
Survey says: Millennials prefer contemporary worship; reality says: Not so fast
The idea that Millennials are attracted mostly to contemporary worship services is largely an outdated stereotype — at least in moderate and progressive Baptist settings, say ministers who serve young adults and youth. Instead, young adults are hungry for churches…
COVID-19 sidelines pastors serving along the border
A surge in coronavirus infections along the U.S.-Mexico border is impacting the ranks of clergy who minister to refugees, immigrants and other at-risk groups. Aid organizations and news outlets have consistently reported especially high COVID-19 rates in parts of Mexico…
‘And deliver us from evil’ motivates some gun owners
The debate over gun ownership usually revolves around Second Amendment rights and the tension between personal and public safety. But a new study suggests that concern about supernatural evil is an additional motivating factor for some religious Americans who own…
Churches want to help schools but aren’t sure what’s best this year
The coronavirus is forcing public schools to rethink how they will educate students this fall which, in turn, is forcing churches to rethink how they will minister to neighborhood schools. “We’re having to find ways to think outside the box,”…
Touching Miami with Love hires locally for leader
It was a job interview that no one involved knew was a job interview and yet resulted in decisions that continue to transform Touching Miami with Love, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ministry that serves impoverished youth and families in South…