By Jeff Brumley Sunday mornings at All Souls Charlottesville are fairly common for an Anglican congregation. The Book of Common Prayer and the Revised Common Lectionary are standard, creeds are spoken together, the Eucharist is the central focus of the liturgy…
Contemplative practices gaining with youth, young adults
By Jeff Brumley Some contemplative spiritual practices may be as old as Christianity itself, but they are increasingly attracting younger generations hungry for alternatives to contemporary, flashy worship. Case in point: portions of an international Taizé pilgrimage hosted by First…
Mission trip reflects growing shift as participants experience ‘transformation’
By Jeff Brumley It’s usually called a mission trip when a group of college students and their campus minister visit a ministry located in a struggling out-of-state neighborhood. But that’s not what a group of Clemson University undergrads and their…
Churches respond to call for disaster relief in Augusta, Ga.
By Jeff Brumley Andy Jones says he has just one answer for church groups still looking for that quick spring or early summer mission: come to Augusta, Ga. As the minister of missions at First Baptist Church there, Jones has…
For Lent, Baptist dons orange prison garb for poor and imprisoned
By Jeff Brumley Kent McKeever’s choice of Lenten sacrifice has already generated enough stares and media scrutiny to last him a lifetime. But that’s OK, he jokes, given the trade-off: a lot less laundry to do until Easter. “It’s very…
Longtime pastor will use skills honed in congregations for wider engagement
By Jeff Brumley Texan Mark Newton says he had no intention or interest in leaving the pulpit, even with a quarter century of pastoring churches under his belt. But Newton did just that recently by stepping down as pastor at…
‘Pilgrimage’ to the South’s civil rights sites to explore religion, culture
By Jeff Brumley A Mercer University-led tour of the American South will expose participants to some of the culture, history, politics, architecture, food, religion and key locations that informed and drove the nation’s civil rights movement. In other words, one of…
Baptist groups at forefront of ecumenical disaster relief
By Jeff Brumley In an age of declining respect for churches and an overall disinterest in religion, sometimes it takes a tornado or earthquake to show the world that Baptists and other Christians can, in fact, do something right. That…
Baptist disaster officials tackle cooperation, volunteer background checks
By Jeff Brumley Baptist disaster-response leaders from around the nation gathered near Philadelphia Wednesday and Thursday to hammer out how they can improve interdenominational coordination and swap best practices when ministering to communities impacted by catastrophe. Members of the North…
Network provides ‘Oasis’ from youth minister burnout
By Jeff Brumley Ministry burnout is far from being a new concept with even the most hard-working pastors and demanding congregations admitting it can happen to them and their clergy, too. But one group often left out of the equation…
Baptist ministries see spike in young applicants
By Jeff Brumley Leaders of student-based service programs across Baptist life are reporting significant increases in volunteers due, they say, to shifting attitudes among youth about missions and ministry. From Atlanta to Texas and beyond, organizations that depend on seasonal…
Raleigh church finds ‘very Baptist’ way to be multicultural
By Jeff Brumley Janet Pan firmly believes there will be no segregation in heaven, which may be no surprise from the pastor the Chinese Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C. “Heaven is filled with Chinese and Africans and people of all…