One of the distinguishing marks of the people of God called Baptists, across our 400 years of witness, has been our strong affirmation of believer’s baptism, which is rooted in our high view of Christ’s authority in Scripture. When Jesus…
ANALYSIS: Should Baptist churches adopt open membership? No.
Baptists have not always agreed among themselves on doctrinal or ethical issues, but they have had some common beliefs that they have defended and on which they have been united. When one of these is challenged or rejected, the Baptist…
Churches try varied ways to approach question of membership and baptism
Baptism and local church membership have been inextricably linked historically in the minds of many Baptists. But that view is shifting as a decline in denominational loyalty and the easy movement of American Christians among churches of all stripes have…
FIRST PERSON: Revisiting an old Landmark
Like a lot of long-time church members, when I move to a new town I look for a home church with a worship style and doctrinal stance similar to where I have attended in the past. Moving a few years…
FAITH DIGEST
British army “targeting” mosques? Muslims in England are demanding the British army apologize for using apparent replicas of mosques for target practice on a firing range. The Bradford Council for Mosques, whose area is populated heavily by Muslims, claims the…
RIGHT or WRONG? Water as a weapon
James Workman has written a book, Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought. Is this another example of the paradoxical nature of simplified living, only applied on a global scale?…
ANALYSIS: Should Baptist churches adopt open membership? Yes.
The Baptist movement began 400 years ago with the self-baptism of John Smyth, but the roots of immersion lie beyond that first gathered community whose mode was affusion, or pouring. Edward Barber was probably the first to embrace believer’s baptism…
Two memorial services for Cecil Sherman to be webcast live this week
ATLANTA (ABP) — Two memorial services for Cecil Sherman, founding coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, who died April 17 after suffering a massive heart attack, will be webcast live this week. Services scheduled Tuesday, April 20, at River Road…
Moderate Baptist leader Cecil Sherman dies from complications of heart attack
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Cecil Sherman, 82, one of the most visible moderate leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention controversy of the 1980s and first coordinator of the breakaway Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died April 17 from complications of a heart…
OPINION: Apollo 13 and the Gospel
April 17 marks the 40th anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 13. It was a happy ending to a nearly disastrous and tragic mission. It was also a tribute to the bravery of the three-member crew and the ingenuity and…
Spring marks opening of the ‘Church of Baseball’
ANAHEIM, Calif. (RNS) — Megachurch pastor Rick Warren stood on the mound at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., and delivered his Easter Sunday pitch. “Baseball is a game of numbers in which every player falls short of perfection,” said Warren,…
Spring marks the opening of the ‘Church of Baseball’
ANAHEIM, Calif. (RNS) — Megachurch pastor Rick Warren stood on the mound at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., and delivered his Easter Sunday pitch. “Baseball is a game of numbers in which every player falls short of perfection,” said Warren,…