Architect and art historian Hadley Arnold knew she was in for some surprises when she began transforming an 1830 Rhode Island church into a second home; but she certainly didn’t expect to discover one of America’s most significant works of…
Solidarity Circles program seeks to build a faith-based collaborative economy
What if leaders from different walks of life committed themselves to finding ways to build more collaborative, fairer, more equitable economics? What if they worked together in a virtual peer-to-peer network to confront challenges and learn from one another’s experiences?…
Ten benefits of participating in a pastor peer group
In the realm of spiritual leadership, pastors shoulder a weighty responsibility of guiding, supporting and nurturing their congregations. Demands of the role can be both deeply rewarding and incredibly demanding, often leading to isolation and burnout. In the course of…
Ekisa Ministries serves children with disabilities in Uganda
A disproportionate share of disabled children — 10.4% of 240 million worldwide — live in Eastern and Southern Africa, according to a December 2021 UNICEF report. “In some countries, more than 50% of people living with disabilities have experienced discrimination,”…
Homeless is not the way you want to spend your sunset years, but more and more older Americans find themselves there
Scott, a 63-year-old former chef and factory worker, was trudging toward the tent encampment where he lived on the outskirts of Richmond, Va., when he found fellow camper Ed sprawled on the path, unconscious. “It scared the hootenannies out of…
Christian nationalism: How evangelical Christianity became a political religion
If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the last six years, you’ve probably noticed the phrase “Christian nationalism” being tossed around with increasing frequency. This is due to the fact that there has been a surge in the…
How has gambling become a glittering virtue?
A vice is a vice until it’s not. How did gambling, once called by Walter Rauschenbusch “the vice of the savage,” become a glittering virtue of the American dream? Gambling, particularly for Baptists, has long been condemned. From Billy Sunday…
Rethinking Rufus
Four and a half years of living in Fort Worth was long enough for me to gain a greater appreciation of how much the Burleson family name is revered in Texas. I already knew this to be true in North…
What we should learn from Deion Sanders and Nebraska women’s volleyball
With week one of the college football season kicking off last weekend, fans across the country began dreaming once again about the gridiron glories of violence and victory. And for the parts of American culture shaped by white evangelicals, these…
Sensationalized child abuse: Ruby Franke’s arrest, the LDS church and social media
Last Wednesday, social media influencers Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested after two children were found suffering from malnutrition and evidence of restraint lacerations on their bodies. Authorities were called after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrant’s home, fleeing…
What Ron DeSantis and the TheoBros share in common
The headline in The Atlantic declared: “The Cost of Ron DeSantis’ Ideological Purity.” That got my attention, because “ideological purity” is big theme among religious conservatives these days — especially among that group we sometimes call the TheoBros. Those are…
BGCT nominates first Hispanic to lead convention as executive director
The current president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas has been nominated to serve as its executive director, ending a 14-month search process. Julio Guarneri, lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen, Texas, is the first Hispanic ever…