Olena Levchenko and her Christian family barely escaped Russian forces in Ukraine and bounced from nation to nation in Europe before learning a Baptist congregation in Atlanta, was willing to sponsor them as temporary refugees in the United States. Levchenko…
Autocratic nations are pretending to embrace religious freedom, U.S. commission warns
Autocratic nations, especially in the Middle East, are increasingly adopting policies that only appear to foster religious tolerance, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. They do this to curry favor and trust with the United States and…
CBF appeals for immediate support for Mississippi Delta tornado victims
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has issued an urgent appeal for donations to provide food, water, clothing and housing for Mississippi Delta residents whose trailer homes were shredded Dec. 14 by tornadoes and storms that also ripped through parts of Louisiana,…
‘Give up desire for control if you want to reach your community’
Church leaders must abandon the desire for control and prestige and cooperate with other ministers if they seek to be effective agents of change in their communities, a New Jersey pastor and street minister believes. “One of our main responsibilities…
Dig deeper when looking for your church’s racist or anti-racist history, Gardner advises
A church may have a racist past even if its archives reveal no evidence of support of slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, segregation or other racist structures, author and historian Andrew Gardner said during a recent webinar hosted by the Alliance…
Amanda Tyler testifies before Congress against Christian nationalism
For an ever-so-brief moment Dec. 13, a congressional hearing on the rise of anti-democratic extremism morphed into a Sunday school lesson as Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, fielded questions on the history of Baptists…
ECFA study finds pandemic hit church finances harder than for other nonprofit ministries
Individual evangelical churches struggled financially much more during the COVID-19 pandemic than other kinds of ministries and nonprofits, leaders of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability revealed in a webinar hosted to unpack ECFA’s “2022 State of Giving” report. “Unfortunately,…
Baylor study finds — surprisingly — that student athletes express higher levels of religious belief
Student athletes at Baylor University demonstrate higher levels of religious belief, participation and identity than their non-athlete counterparts at least in part because the Baptist school is successfully balancing faith and athletics, according to a study published last month in…
White House approves 18-month extension of TPS for Haitian refugees as conditions worsen
The White House this week approved 18 months of additional Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals already in the U.S. and opened the door for newer arrivals to apply for the legal protection assuming they entered the country before Nov…
As Americans celebrate release of Brittney Griner, some conservatives openly criticize her freedom
Former Baylor University basketball superstar Brittney Griner has been released from captivity in Russia in a prisoner swap involving a Russian arms dealer, President Joe Biden announced Dec. 8. “She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home…
Alliance of Baptists steps into anti-racism work
The coming year will be filled with the challenge of intense anti-slavery work for the Alliance of Baptists if its 2022 fall gathering was any indication. The session was held Nov. 10-12 in Montgomery, Ala., where about 150 participants attended…
BJC leaders say religious liberty fears about Respect for Marriage Act are overdrawn
Conservative Christian leaders opposed to the Respect for Marriage Act are engaged in cancel-culture fear mongering that frames marriage equality as a threat to their religious liberty, Amanda Tyler said in a recent episode of the “Respecting Religion” podcast. “For…