Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter joined 96 other Christian leaders supporting a campaign for criminal justice reform announced June 20. Spearheaded by Prison Fellowship, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, National Association of…
Baptist leaders say Trump’s Cuba policy is a step backward
Baptists working to foster fraternal relationships between churches in the United States and Cuba criticized President’s Trump plan to roll back some of the steps that President Obama took to open relationships between the two countries. “Effective immediately, I am…
Kentucky governor fires back at prayer walk critics
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin suggested last week on Facebook that clergy critics of his plan to fight crime by assigning roving bands of prayer warriors to walk blocks in West Louisville are probably going to hell. “I don’t know that…
Psychologists have a name for the emotional impact of a Trump presidency. Pastors offer a cure.
Pastors are seeing a surge in church members, colleagues and friends emotionally battered from months of relentless dread generated by national politics. Psychologists have even coined a term for it: Trump anxiety. Julie Pennington-Russell has seen plenty of it. Recently,…
Former Southern Baptist youth pastor, now LGBTQ activist, booted from annual SBC meeting
Brandan Robertson said he has yet to become fully accustomed to the feelings of public condemnation and rejection that come with his work as a bisexual Christian seeking LGBTQ inclusion in evangelical churches. Robertson, 24 and a former Southern Baptist…
In annual meeting do-over, Southern Baptists denounce ‘alt-right’ white supremacy
The Southern Baptist Convention condemned white supremacy in a resolution adopted 24 hours after a mostly white resolutions committee initially rebuffed a black pastor’s appeal to allow the issue to make it to the floor.
Transitions for the week of 06.16.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Mary L. Apicella, to Providence Baptist Church, Hendersonville, N.C., as pastor, effective Aug. 1. She comes from Federated…
Satisfaction guaranteed: Southern Baptists refute efforts to soften the atonement
Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, satisfying the wrath of a holy God, according to a Southern Baptist Convention resolution adopted June 13. Meeting June 13-14 in Phoenix, messengers to the 2017 SBC annual meeting passed…
In U.S., post-Christian cities overtaking Bible-believing urban areas
Used to be, research and polling organizations interested in American religious life regularly documented how much Christians are, or aren’t, going to church. The Barna Group did just that in a recent survey which found that residents of Chattanooga, Tenn.;…
CBF leaders side with pastor/judge in dispute over religion, bias
An Arkansas judge who also serves as a Baptist pastor told reporters last Friday his controversial participation in a Good Friday death penalty protest is protected by a state law passed in 2015 to bolster religious freedom after the U.S….
Finding spiritual nurture in unexpected sources — horses
Immersed in church life, Judy Skeen still felt disconnected from her soul. Now she teaches religion, biblical studies, spiritual formation, economic justice and faith at a university. And horses help her do it.
Southern Baptists have lost a million members in 10 years
Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the 10th straight year, although at a slower pace than last year, while baptisms dropped to the lowest level in 70 years, according to statistics released in advance of the 2017 SBC…
SBC leader says senator’s religious questioning out of bounds
The head of the Southern Baptist Convention public policy and religious liberty arm blasted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ grilling of a potential White House official over comments about Islam. Sanders (I-Vt.) said during a June 7 nomination hearing that Trump nominee…
Transitions for the week of 06.09.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Megan Gant, to Jersey Baptist Church, Lexington, N.C., as family minister. Dan Gaudinier, to First Baptist Church, Augusta,…