What do Donald Trump, Teletubbies, Starbucks coffee cups and other forms of Christian persecution have in common? More than you might think. As someone raised in a very conservative Southern Baptist church in Orlando, Fla. — I would not go…
How a Georgia camp went from revival to castaway in five years
Ten days after the Georgia Baptist Mission Board announced the closing of its discipleship-focused camp in Middle Georgia, an agreement appears to allow the facility to remain open under the Friends of Kaleo. The Georgia Baptist Mission Board posted a…
Monetizing Baptist saints
If Southern Baptists have saints, there are only two and they are both women. Each are revered for their dedication to ministry and circumspect way of living. Neither was flashy or given to being the life of the party. This…
On the Trump trial, the SBC and accountability
What happened in New York City Thursday? For one brief moment, in my 72 years, I saw a nation united around one idea that the rule of law still works as it was intended. Transparency hurts at times. In shortly…
Georgia convention finally sells its ‘Taj Mahal’ at a 50% loss
The Georgia Baptist Mission Board, once the largest Southern Baptist state convention east of the Mississippi River, has sold its headquarters building for half its original $42.3 million cost. The state convention announced the sale on Jan. 4 without disclosing…
Georgia Baptist retirees relieved to learn Health Care Foundation will cover their benefits again in 2024
“Yes!” That is the overwhelming response from Georgia Baptist Mission Board retirees whose health care benefits are being extended another year. The benefits were cancelled by the largest Southern Baptist state convention east of the Mississippi River in late 2021…
At Salem, a reminder the Puritans were Christian nationalists too
Last year my wife and I, on a trip to Maine, included our annual detour to Salem, Mass. It’s a fascinating city just outside Boston, filled with literary and pre-Colonial history. Quite an industry has grown up around the historic…
Nathan Porter called a generation of Baptists to serve Christ and love the poor
A prince of a guy who loved challenging youth to consider a call to ministry and, on the other hand, someone who was the conscience of many Southern Baptists on poverty and race relations. That’s how friends are remembering Nathan…
Annie’s Link keeps those cards and letters coming
When Jenny Nethery sat at her desk and pondered ways to keep in touch with employees of the former Home Mission Board, she never envisioned a communications tool that would eventually span nearly 1,000 individuals from multiple agencies. In 1997,…