Jesus said the poor “always” will be with us. Was he talking about all the people who don’t have much money, or just the ones we call the “deserving poor” or the “poor in spirit”? How should Christians treat this…
SBC leader envisions ‘unity’ on Calvinism issue
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — “The local church is God's plan to attack the gates of hell,” said Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, during a special forum at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. R. Albert Mohler Jr.,…
LifeWay’s new Bible study line prompts worries about bias toward Calvinism
CLEVELAND, Ga. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist college president says new curriculum produced by LifeWay Christian Resources is biased toward a theological viewpoint not “representative of the vast majority of Southern Baptists.” Emir Caner, president of Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland,…
Study suggests megachurch services produce spiritual and biological ‘high’
(RNS) — Maybe religion really is the opiate of the masses — just not the way Karl Marx imagined. A University of Washington study posits that worship services at megachurches can trigger feelings of transcendence and changes in brain chemistry…
Report shows more than 5,000 multisite churches, and growing at faster pace than traditional ones
(RNS) — The number of congregations that host worship services at more than one physical location has grown to more than 5,000 in the last decade, according to a new report. Researchers say these "multisite" churches, which may share worshippers…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Helping your pastor and staff set boundaries
Recalling an event that happened more than 30 years ago, I can still remember the icy cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. My wife, Connie, and I were enjoying a very rare Friday evening away from church activities….
LEADERSHIP LINK: Bivocational ministry — a real gift
Our TGIF article here focused on the pulls and perils of bivocational pastors. Being a bivocational pastor comes with multiple challenges. But those challenges are accompanied by many rewards that benefit both the pastors and the churches they serve. Unwrapping…
LEADERSHIP LINK: TGIF doesn’t mean what you think
Pat grew up in Baptist churches in the Midwest and West. In the 1950s, he went to his state’s agricultural and mechanical college, studying animal husbandry. Next, Pat went to seminary. Then, he joined the Navy and flew on Cold…
Churches can help grandparents who bear responsibility for grandchildren
“The church building is not a monument. It’s an instrument for God,” Timothy Williams, pastor of Bethsaida Missionary Baptist Church in Mexia, Texas, believes. His wife, Cheryl, director of apartment ministries for Buckner International, is praying her church and others…
OPINION: The end of church as we know it
(ABP) — Has anybody out there noticed that church attendance has been lower lately? The church budget is stretched thin because fewer people are giving? You can’t get a commitment out of people who are so busy they are already…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Transitions ON THE MOVE Katie McKown, to Scottsville (Va.) Baptist Church, as pastor. Joe Holland, to Hunton Baptist Church, Glen Allen, Va., as interim pastor. Horace Scruggs, to Effort (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim worship pastor. Chris Kurtz, resigning as…
Faith groups aim to fight sex trafficking in Wilmington
WILMINGTON, N.C. (RNS) — Just 13. That’s the average age UNICEF reports that girls enter the commercial sex trade in the U.S. And while many Americans might think of sex trafficking as an international problem, it often starts in the…