By Jeff Brumley Mercer University has received a $1.1 million federal grant to improve the retention, gradate and financial literacy of non-traditional students. The university reported this week that the U.S. Department of Education Student Support Services awarded the funds,…
Civil rights groups, Baptists creating ‘incredible moment’ in U.S. politics
By Jeff Brumley The prevailing wisdom is that there is little if anything new under the sun when it comes to politics and religion. But some ministers and expert observers are challenging that notion as the nation leans into the…
In Vietnam, Mercer project provides prosthetics and hope
By Jeff Brumley Craig McMahan has a Ph.D. in New Testament, which has served him well as dean of chapel and university minister at Mercer University in Macon, Ga. But it’s the license in prosthetics that’s come in most handy…
Civility the right response to church bombings, Baptist pastor says
By Jeff Brumley In 2014, Kevin Glenn published a book detailing the loss of civility in American culture and proposing some ways to revive it. Now it looks like Glenn is going to have a chance to put Hand over…
Pastor greeted with bombing on first day in N.M. church
By Jeff Brumley One of two churches bombed in Las Cruces, N.M., on Sunday included one with a brand new pastor from a Baptist congregation in Missouri. Kevin Glenn also is an expert and author on the subject of restoring…
Fewer people moving doesn’t mean more will come to church, ministers say
By Jeff Brumley New research suggests Americans are increasingly choosing to put down roots where they currently live, a finding that raises questions about church health. The recent Barna Group project said mobility has declined overall over many years. Most…
Baptists reflect on fellowship as ‘nones’ seek their own brand of community
By Jeff Brumley They may be leaving or avoiding organized religion in droves, but the nation’s “nones” are still craving community — otherwise known as fellowship — recent reports suggest. Known also as the religiously unaffiliated, this growing segment of the U.S….
Young adults challenging traditional church membership concepts
By Jeff Brumley The value and purpose of church membership is becoming an increasingly hot topic in Baptist and other congregations these days. And that’s “hot” as in controversial and heated, not popular. And it’s one that occasionally pits older…
Deal, disaster response director with ‘a chaplain’s heart,’ leaving CBF
By Jeff Brumley Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma were stunned in the immediate hours after a monster tornado tore through Moore, Okla., on May 20, 2013, killing 24 people. And they were overwhelmed trying to assess damage…