Ministers and congregations eager to provide material assistance to Louisiana and Mississippi residents affected by Hurricane Ida are mostly going to have to wait before taking action, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders and ministers said during an Aug. 30 Zoom call….
Panelists describe better alternatives to ‘hit-and-run’ evangelism
Diogo Carvalho’s initial foray into evangelism was motivated by an emphasis on saving souls from hell and counting converts. “It was hit-and-run evangelism. I would approach someone in the streets, speak with them five minutes and let them go,” the…
Churches urged to get ready to welcome Afghan refugees
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel across the U.S. are preparing partner networks and local congregations for the expected arrival of Afghan refugees attempting to flee as the withdrawal of American forces continues. “We expect a huge influx all over the…
Pandemic has accelerated needed changes in churches, panelists report
The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to churches, but it also helped them sift through outdated programming and policies to reinvent ministry going forward, according to panelists of “Expanding Engagement in the Local Church,” an Aug. 25 workshop of the Cooperative…
Pastors ponder pandemic preaching problems — and how they’ve survived
Preaching has been radically different and difficult for Pastor Cheryl Adamson since March 2020, and not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The parallel scourges of police brutality, political subjugation and racial oppression faced by African Americans, and exacerbated by…
Panelists make the Christian case against conversion therapy: It harms people
Ministries that promise to transform gay people into straight people instead cause immense spiritual, emotional and physical trauma that can take decades of counseling to undo, according to the panelists on an Aug. 24 BNG webinar titled “The Christian Case…
COVID has dramatically changed the experience of global missionaries
American missionaries serving in far-away places continue to endure significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including limits on travel and in-person ministry, a scarcity of international volunteers and in some cases feelings of guilt for being vaccinated in communities…
Baptists worldwide uniting to offer aid to Haiti as challenges mount
Baptist organizations from around the world are joining forces to provide financial, material and spiritual care to Haitians reeling from the Aug. 14 earthquake that killed at least 2,200, injured more than 12,000 and flattened tens of thousands of homes,…
Hashtags won’t defeat white Christian nationalism, panelists warn
Ongoing efforts by white Christian nationalists to destabilize American democracy must be met with the courage and grassroots activism made famous by the 1960s Civil Rights movement, panelists said during the second of two Aug. 18 webinars on the movement….