By Laura Rector Divorce hurts children. My grandparents’ divorce still hurts their children and their grandchildren to this day — even though both have been dead for years. Certainly, the pain has lessened in time, but the wound is still…
Winning with racism
By Laura Rector Somewhere in a closet at my parents’ house in Kentucky hangs a George H.W. Bush shirt from my high school days. On one occasion in my early 20s, I skipped church to pass out flyers with Right…
Taking our shoes off at the door
By Laura Rector Starting out in ministry to Korean churches, I made inevitable cultural mistakes — like taking my Korean-American youth group on a mission trip and bringing along 10 pounds of American rice. The teenagers refused to eat it….
Don’t try to ‘fix’ women in ministry
By Laura Rector I’m in the bookstore at an egalitarian seminary. Unfortunately, not everyone there is an egalitarian. An older gentleman waylays me, finds out what I do, and starts telling me I’m sinning for feeling called and for being…
Baptists should rethink stance against children’s rights
By Laura Rector In 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution against New Age Globalism that criticized the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The resolution made it and other human-rights documents sound like…
Sometimes integrity is who you are when everyone is looking
By Laura Rector “Integrity is who you are when no one’s looking,” I was told as a college student. As an ethicist earning her Ph.D. at Fuller Seminary, I agree only in part. Choices made in private do matter. In…
Lessons from a recent election
By Laura Rector The aftermath of a recent election brings tears to my eyes. No, it’s not from an elephant kick or donkey shakedown. It’s not a cry over spilt tea, and there’s not a Rand Paul or Barbara Boxer-shaped…
In this woman’s story, God has the last word
By Laura Rector What happens when a Southern Baptist girl takes God’s love story for her to heart? What happens when she grows up with heroines like Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong? What happens when she prays for missionaries every…
What some Baptists don’t want to hear about others
By Laura Rector “Why did you go to Southern Baptist Convention schools when they don’t support women in ministry, Laura?” That’s the refrain I often hear, as I’ve moved into more moderate circles in recent years. It’s usually followed by…