“The program incorporates the unique programmatical, missional and theological orientation of individual congregations, as well as the particular needs of surrounding communities.”
Is religion more important amid COVID or is this just a phase?
More Americans say religion is increasingly influential in society even as faith’s importance on the personal level remains flat, according to new research by the Gallup Organization.
Q&A with Elket Rodriguez about COVID-19 and border ministry
What a time for attorney Elket Rodríguez to start a new job advocating for immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border on behalf of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest. That was on March 2 — just days before the coronavirus…
It’s hard to get a laugh these days, even if you’re a funny preacher
Susan Sparks is a preacher and a stand-up comedian, which means she doesn’t have a lot of places to be these days. Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City, where she is senior pastor, isn’t meeting in person. And…
Opposition to couple’s BLM sign inspires neighborhood unity
Someone in Lincoln, Neb., picked the wrong Black Lives Matter yard sign to protest in an anonymous note demanding its removal. For not only did Erin Palmer and Jonathan Redding keep the “offensive” sign in their yard, they added a…
Baylor not yet where it wants to be on race, Livingstone tells forum
An Instagram page where people of color share experiences of racism at Baylor University illustrates that the Baptist institution is still not where it wants to be on matters of racial inclusion, Baylor President Linda Livingstone said during a virtual…
More Americans are hungry, but ‘it doesn’t have to be that way’
It’s a fact that food insecurity is getting steadily worse in the United States in part because of the coronavirus, a Baptist mission expert reports. But it’s a myth that hunger and poverty are conditions Americans simply have to accept,…
At California church: Praise the Lord and honk your horn
After months of online worship, Barbara Aikens Walker was relieved finally to gather in-person with her church on July 5 — even if it was from inside her Jeep Cherokee parked inside a California parking garage. Walker said First Baptist…
In Kenya, worry about COVID-19 and now a plague of locusts
COVID-19 and gigantic swarms of crop-devouring locusts are compounding the challenges of hunger, poverty and war that many Africans already face. But there are communities where a reliance on faith and on internal economic capacity are helping people survive current…
Virginia explorer talks about missions and philanthropy in new adventure book
It takes a book for Craig Martin to share where on Earth he’s been. It’s much easier to ask where he hasn’t been. “I have not been to Antarctica,” said Martin, a director, filmmaker and former communications manager for the…
Huge hurdles ahead for Dreamers despite high court’s DACA ruling
“There’s always that fear that at any point in time it could be stopped or ended.”
Campbell institute helps youth try on vocation as ministry
At 18, Jillian Brookshire already knows she wants to pursue a career in law, maybe even politics. What the Raleigh, N.C., resident didn’t know until more recently is that her professional interests may also represent a calling on her life….