By Jeff Brumley About 20,000 delegates are expected in Atlanta Sept. 3-7 for the 132nd annual session of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest of the historically African-American Baptist denominations. Unlike some other Baptist groups, the…
Missionaries urge shift in orphan care
By Jeff Brumley After a mission trip to Ethiopia in 2007, a group of Baptist pastors from East Texas launched a multi-church mission effort dedicated to everything from digging wells and latrines to working in schools and churches to train…
Baptists meet Isaac with humor, readiness
By Jeff Brumley Baptists meeting in Antigua greeted Tropical Storm Isaac’s passage through the Caribbean with humor and determination while Cooperative Baptist Fellowship officials in Florida and other Gulf states prepared for the worst. Isaac caused disruptions including flight cancellations at…
Churches lag in social media oversight
By Jeff Brumley Sheryl Fancher likes to tell social media nightmare stories that make ministers cringe. Like the one about a pastor who posted derogatory remarks about church members on his Facebook page without realizing his account was set to…
Baptist women pastors reach milestone
By Jeff Brumley It took Pam Durso a few minutes to comprehend the number that came up during her recent count of women leading Baptist churches: 150. The number had been 102 in 2005 and 135 in 2010 said Durso,…
Pastors foresee raceless church
By Jeff Brumley Park Avenue Baptist Church in Atlanta is considered by some a hopeful sign that Sunday may soon no longer be the most segregated time in America. A dwindling, all-white congregation eight years ago, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship…
Social media bigger deal than survey says
By Jeff Brumley A survey’s finding that few Americans use social media to connect with churches and other religious groups has those who conducted the research astonished. “We were a little bit surprised,” Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public…
Don’t count out the church organ just yet
By Jeff Brumley There are times, Shaun King says, when worship music should be energetic, light or joyful. That’s when instruments like pianos, drums and guitars do the trick. But then there are times when the sound needs to be…
Pastor returns to site of Olympic glory
By Jeff Brumley Jack Robinson is in England at the moment because of the dual callings he sensed as a child and because of the Olympic gold medal he won in London in 1948. And for all of that, the…