By Jeff Brumley Aggressive measures are being taken to prevent the spread of Ebola to South Africa as plans continue to hold the 21st Baptist World Congress in Durban in 2015, the Baptist World Alliance said. “We are especially pleased…
Circle of life: Denominational innovation may be wave of future
By Jeff Brumley The fact state and national religious bodies are undergoing significant changes — or at least need to change — hardly makes headlines anymore. But the changes already occurring give hints about where the development of religious organizations…
Debate: what (if anything) to do about choir decline
By Jeff Brumley Recent news that the church choir is in rapid decline troubled a number of Baptists, a number of whom took to Facebook recently to post evidence that choral music has – or at least should have – a…
Church factors into American aversion to moving, pastors say
By Jeff Brumley Evidence that American society is becoming less mobile is backed up by some Baptist pastors who see devotion to church and neighborhood trumping the lure of better jobs — across town or the nation — among many parishioners. “I…
Baptist couple has edge most missionaries can only envy
By Vicki Brown and Jeff Brumley Growing up in an impoverished, patriarchal society provided excellent training for missionaries Nzunga and Kihomi Mabudiga. The Congo natives have served in Haiti for 17 years with the American Baptist Churches USA’s International Ministries….
Prayers for Eastern Christians become easier sell for evangelicals
By Jeff Brumley and Ken Camp It’s hardly unusual to hear evangelicals and other Protestants praying for persecuted Eastern Christians these days, especially those fleeing terrorists forces in Syria and Iraq. But that wasn’t always the case. and if there…
Worried about ISIS and Ebola? Pray the news, experts say
By Jeff Brumley These days, the news is full of disease, violence and death. It’s hardly possible to go a day, or even an hour, without exposure to images of beheadings, airstrikes, nations invading nations, downed or missing airliners and…
White evangelicals feel heat of religious decline, surveys show
By Jeff Brumley Two new polls show that religious conservatives — mainly white evangelicals — are complaining louder as they lose ground in the so-called culture wars. They also describe a widening gap between the faithful and religiously unaffiliated Americans. What’s it…
‘Nones’ increasingly uninterested in ministers at time of death, funerals
By Jeff Brumley There was a time when even the unchurched came to church for at least one occasion — their deaths. It was an era when nearly everyone, even those who rejected religion, had some connection to faith, however distant….
Study: Youth experiment less with alcohol, drugs when plugged into church
By Jeff Brumley and Terry Goodrich Young people are less likely to try alcohol and drugs if they attend religious services regularly and self-identify as religious, a new Baylor University study has found. The study suggests that youth who feel…
At 88, Baptist educator Bruce Heilman is still taking on life
With Marines still battling the Japanese for control of other parts of Iwo Jima in early 1945, a two-engine Navy transport plane, loaded with people and equipment, begins its takeoff roll along the single airstrip on the volcanic Pacific island….
Uncivil conduct among Christians fuels church decline, says Baptist pastor and author
By Jeff Brumley Given the bitter, high-profile way Christians slug it out on social, political and theological issues these days, it’s no mystery why young people are leaving the church or avoiding it in the first place, Baptist minister and…