Reaching herd immunity against the coronavirus cannot happen without more intervention from the faith community, according to leaders of two national organizations tracking current trends. “We do not get to herd immunity without dealing with faith identity. Religious identity is…
CBF names Letson and Green to stewardship roles
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has named two new staff members with different responsibilities related to stewardship. Rickey Letson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Laurens, S.C., will join the CBF staff in May as congregational stewardship officer. Nell Green, who…
What should we learn from the Derek Chauvin verdict?
April 20, 2021, is another day that will be marked in history as a turning point in America’s racial reckoning. The question now is what we will learn from this moment. When a jury unanimously convicted former Minneapolis police officer…
Biden administration skewered for keeping Trump-era cap on refugee resettlement
Immigration advocates — including numerous faith-based groups — reacted harshly to the Biden administration’s April 16 announcement that it would not, after all, raise the ceiling for admission of refugees this year. The blowback was so swift and harsh that…
Greg Garrett, Baylor prof and BNG columnist, awarded Baugh grant for research on race and media
BNG columnist and Baylor University professor Greg Garrett has received a three-year, $488,000 grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation to further his research on how film and other media shape attitudes about race and racism. “I’m so…
DeLoach confirmed as McAfee School of Theology dean
After serving in an interim role for more than 18 months, Gregory DeLoach has been named dean of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology. Prior to being named interim dean in 2018, DeLoach served as a development officer for Mercer’s…
From Texas to Tennessee, evangelical parents are trying to take the ‘public’ out of public education
Ever since the forced integration of public schools, white evangelical Christians have led the charge to “protect” their children from social issues they’re not willing to face up to at home. Sadly, they expect that protection to come by means…
When the dying stops, will we remember to address the multiplied grief of COVID?
Among the many innovations to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic is this sad rubric: The COVID-19 Bereavement Multiplier. Ashton Verdery, associate professor of sociology and demography at Pennsylvania State University, led the study that created the Bereavement Multiplier, which estimates…
Texas takes the spotlight as statehouses across the nation seek to restrict trans teens and voter access
Some Texas legislators want to outdo Georgia and Arkansas with a combination of bills restricting transgender teens and voting access for poor and minority citizens. The Texas bills — four concerning transgender health care, six concerning transgender athletes and two…