By Vicki Brown You’ve been a member of the same church for a few years. While you may not know everyone in the congregation well, you are acquainted with most folks in your Sunday school class. One Sunday morning you…
Churches facing a rethink in how they engage aging Boomers
By Vicki Brown Many churches rely on retirees as volunteers to keep some programs and activities vital and growing. Some congregations turn to mature adults for the basics — answering phones, stuffing envelopes and other office or maintenance duties —…
Slow to retire: Boomers turn to ‘encore careers’
By Vicki Brown Baby Boomers — Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — are extending their working careers, and many are turning to what has been dubbed “encore careers.” Boomer numbers vary, with estimates from 65 million to 76.4 million…
Baptist leader in Missouri arrested for seeking sex with animal
By Vicki Brown Windermere Baptist Conference Center in Missouri will choose a new executive following the arrest of Jerald “Jerry” Hill on charges of soliciting sex with an animal, its board chair said Aug. 7. According to several news reports,…
Should churches, denominations bear responsibility for unethical clergy? Some ethicists say yes.
By Vicki Brown Ministers are responsible for their actions as individuals, sometimes by civil authorities and ultimately by God. But what responsibility, if any, should the local church and the denomination bear for unethical behavior of their pastors and other…
Ukrainian Baptists continue ministry amid conflict, leader says
By Vicki Brown Ukrainian Baptists have stepped up ministry as conflict continues to tear at their country, Slavik Pyzh told pastors and lay leaders in Missouri recently. The president of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary spoke to a small gathering July…
Missourian finds vocation, ministry creating prosthetic eyes
By Vicki Brown Most Haitians shun a child who has lost an eye — a thought that haunted iTeam members for a year. The iTeam is a group of eye-care professionals who minister in Haiti a couple of times each…
Art gaining in Baptist worship and spirituality
By Vicki Brown The church has used the arts — all forms — to share the story of God’s love and mercy throughout the ages. Poets and authors have written volumes. Painters and sculptors have depicted Bible stories and represented…
Mo. Baptist Convention buys land adjacent to conference center it tried to reclaim
By Vicki Brown The Missouri Baptist Convention has bought about 970 acres that originally had been part of Windermere Baptist Conference Center. News reports indicate that the purchase includes shoreline on both sides of the current Windermere facilities on the Lake…