Even though I graduated from both high school and college in New Mexico, my Spanish is pretty bad. But I understood clearly what Pastor Isabel Marquez was telling the 52 migrants gathered in a small room at Oak Lawn United…
Have the ‘nones’ hit a plateau?
The so-called “nones” may now have something in common with most American churches: They’ve plateaued, according to Gallup. Amid all the attention that’s been given to the dramatic growth of this segment of the American population — those who tell…
Your words are not enough, Beth Allison Barr tells male SBC pastors on sexual abuse after Johnny Hunt’s ‘restoration’
Pastors guilty of sexual abuse never should be restored to ministry, Baylor University professor and author Beth Allison Barr wrote for a news service in the United Kingdom Dec. 9. The opinion piece published by Premier Christianity addresses the case…
McRaney trial finally gets a date, and NAMB is compelled to expand the scope of its documentation
After five years of legal wrangling, a new date has been set for the case brought by Will McRaney against the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board. And that date, ironically, falls the week before the SBC annual meeting….
For first time, M.A. enrollment equals M.Div. enrollment at U.S. seminaries
After more than a decade of significant instability, enrollment in America’s accredited theological schools has found some stability, although the degree programs being pursued continue to shift and more schools are shrinking than growing. These are the findings of a…
While many evangelical leaders are wary of Trump’s 2024 run, this Oklahoma pastor has launched a fan club
While many of Donald Trump’s former evangelical pastor supporters have distanced themselves from his run for the presidency in 2024, one failed candidate for the U.S. Senate from Oklahoma has launched a new Trump fan club. Jackson Lahmeyer, pastor of…
An important conversation about ordaining and unordaining
Our motto here at BNG is to inspire you, dear readers, with change-making conversations. We’ve hit a nerve with one of those conversations this week, which tells me it is extremely important that we talk about this. The “this” is…
How Santa figures into the not-so-merry Supreme Court case about LGBTQ discrimination
One of the key sticking points in the hotly contested debate over LGBTQ discrimination is whether that issue is in any way equivalent to racial discrimination. Now, Santa has gotten involved. White Santa, that is. During oral arguments before the…
Supreme Court hears case of wedding website designer who won’t serve same-sex couples
While the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court appears ready-made to support a Colorado wedding website designer who doesn’t want to serve same-sex couples, other justices grilled her attorney hard about why she should be allowed to discriminate on…