Amid the highly contentious debate about how best to enact comprehensive immigration reform on a federal level, several thousand evangelical Christians have signed on to a set of recommendations drafted by the Evangelical Immigration Table. Organizers say they are presenting…
Religious coalition files suit to stop Georgia’s new voter law
Bishop Carl McRae remembers growing up in the Jim Crow South as a native Georgian. What he sees happening in Georgia with new restrictive voting laws feels even worse than that, he said. “I’ve never seen anything so bold. And…
Russell Moore leaves ERLC for Christianity Today, highlighting the new schism within SBC
Russell Moore’s critics in the Southern Baptist Convention think his departure to the evangelical magazine Christianity Today proves what they’ve believed all along: He’s a liberal. Moore, head of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the past eight…
What to do if you unearth a history of slavery in your church, college or institution?
With increasing attention to the roots of American slavery in religious life, more churches and faith-based ministries that existed prior to the Civil War are unearthing truths they wish weren’t true. Then the hard questions arise: How should a church,…
As state legislative sessions come to an end, anti-abortion bills are rising to the top
Some of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in recent history have made their way through state legislatures this session, with at least five states already passing bills considered near-total bans on abortion. Many of the bills already passed or on…
Baylor surpasses $1 billion mark in current fundraising campaign
Baylor University has joined an elite group of American universities that have raised more than $1 billion in a single fundraising campaign. The Waco, Texas, school announced May 13 that a $7 million gift to fund a basketball pavilion put…
21Wilberforce ranks members of 116th Congress on support for international religious freedom
A nonpartisan group has released its annual rankings of Congressional action relating to international freedom of belief, conscience and religion during the 116th Congress, finding “strong bipartisan support” continues. The IRF Congressional Scorecard, a project of 21Wilberforce, commends 63 members…
What will become of Sunday school?
A decade ago, while on a sabbatical research project, I visited 15 churches of various denominations across the United States that bore only one common trait — they were in some way “traditional” churches. Even among that group, one of…
More churches plan reopenings cautiously, joyfully and with flexibility
New CDC guidelines and a growing number of church members being vaccinated are suddenly opening new possibilities for churches that have been closed to in-person gatherings for 14 months. “The arrival and availability of the vaccine has been a welcomed…
Largest church in SBC ordains three women as pastors
The largest church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention ordained three women as ministers May 6, sending shock waves through the male-centric leadership of the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination. Saddleback Church, founded by Pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay,…
Charity versus justice
It’s an old saying but true: If you have to keep rescuing people out of a raging river, eventually you ought to walk upstream to see who’s throwing those people in the river. This is the difference between charity and…
Baptist deacon is author of controversial anti-trans bills in Texas, joining wave of similar legislation pushed nationwide
A Baptist deacon is the author of an anti-transgender bill that has passed the Texas Senate and now awaits action in the House — a bill that has been called by critics one of the cruelest in a season of…