RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Clergy wellness means different things at different stages of a ministry, and ministers who come to Ministering to Ministers Foundation are at a point of personal or professional crisis. Charles Chandler began Ministering to Ministers after…
10 practices for ministerial health
CHICAG0 (ABP) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lists 10 best practices for ministerial health and wellness: • Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. • Love your neighbor as you love yourself — be an…
Healthy ministers, healthy churches
SAN FRANCISCO (ABP)—“You cannot go to church,” Christian philosopher Elton Trueblood once said. “You are the church wherever you go.” That is especially true if you are the pastor. While many people with high-demand occupations view Sunday worship as a…
Pastor charged with molestation
EUFALA, Okla. (ABP) – An Oklahoma community reacted with shock to the arrest of a respected Southern Baptist pastor charged with molesting a teenage girl. Bruce Sanders, 48, pastor of North Fork Baptist Church in Eufala, Okla., pleaded not guilty…
BJC says Oklahoma Sharia ban unconstitutional
WASHINGTON (ABP) – A Baptist religious-liberty group joined Jewish, Islamic and civil-liberties organizations in urging an appellate court to uphold a ban on Oklahoma’s anti-Sharia law. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief arguing…
Baptist recovery plans focus on mid-term aid
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Baptist groups associated with the North American Baptist Fellowship are pouring into areas affected by deadly spring tornadoes and floods, at the same time they make longer view assessments of how best to help victim families rebuild…
Ministry rebuilds damaged ministries
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Clergy wellness means different things at different stages of a ministry, and ministers who come to Ministering to Ministers Foundation are at a point of personal or professional crisis. The Richmond, Va.,-based organization provides weeklong “wellness…
Wellness responsibility of both minister and church
HERNDON, Va. (ABP) — Most congregations know healthier clergy lead to healthier churches, but few consider how clergy wellness and congregational busy-ness are related, said Larry Golemon, an ordained Presbyterian minister and former research manager at the Alban Institute. “Clergy…
OPINION: Learning the language of the soul
I’ve never been great at languages. I wish I were. A natural linguistic facility would have made my years of learning biblical languages (or living in foreign countries, for that matter) slightly less trying. Language study, I understand, comes with…
RIGHT or WRONG? The best and brightest
It has been said that church vocations no longer attract the “best and brightest” young Christians. Do believe that is true? If so, what should we do about it? Twelve years ago, as an editor of a Baptist state paper,…
NABF groups’ recovery plans focus on helping disaster victims in mid-term
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Baptist groups associated with the North American Baptist Fellowship are pouring into areas affected by deadly spring tornadoes and floods, at the same time they make longer view assessments of how best to help victim families rebuild…
Self-care important for clergy but often neglected
SAN FRANCISCO (ABP) — “You cannot go to church,” Christian philosopher Elton Trueblood once said. “You are the church wherever you go.” That is especially true if you are the pastor. While many people with high-demand occupations view Sunday worship…