Our church is thinking about electing women deacons. But some members claim this is another example of contemporary liberalism taking over our theology. Is this so? Changing a church’s polity always is a challenge. My best advice is to encourage…
Some black church leaders feel jilted by President Obama
WASHINGTON (RNS) — When President Obama was elected, some black pastors — fresh from a campaign that featured extensive outreach to their churches — expected meetings with the president, or at least to be enlisted as informal advisers. For better…
Michigan Hutaree militia a cult, experts say
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (RNS) — When militia expert Jack Kay first ran across a MySpace page for the Michigan-based Hutaree militia six months ago, he thought it was just another group wrapping itself in God and country. But following raids…
Barbie gets ordained, and she has the wardrobe to match
WASHINGTON (RNS) — With her careers as veterinarian, astronaut and U.S. president behind her, Barbie has at last found her true calling — as an Episcopal priest. Julie Blake Fisher, an Episcopal priest in Kent, Ohio, created Episcopal Priest Barbie…
Christians outside the West view Bible differently from affluent westerners
RICHMOND, Va. — Christians in the developing nations read Scripture differently than their brothers and sister in the affluent West, according to missiologist Caleb Oladipo. “The way we read the Scriptures in the western world particularly is through empirical knowledge—that…
Churches wrestle with giving drop
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The number of churches that reported a drop in giving due to the sour economy rose nearly 10 percent last year, according to new survey. In 2009, 38 percent of churches reported a decline in giving, versus…
Reading the Bible through the eyes of poverty yields different interpretations
Status in society can influence how people read and interpret the Bible — and often how they will act on it, according to some Christian leaders. Miguel de la Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the Iliff School of…
ANALYSIS: Churches can help poor people avoid predatory lending trap
Payday loan outlets have grown like kudzu in recent years. Texas, for instance, has more payday lender outlets — about 3,000 — than it has McDonald’s and Whataburger restaurants combined. And some churches and pastors are asking how they can…
Suffolk youth launched Easter ministries
Youth fill Easter eggs for their church's annual egg hunt. SUFFOLK, Va. — The weekend of March 12-14 was a busy one for the youth at Holland Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va., as they prepared for a variety of ministry…
Black Baptist pastor asks Southern Baptist Convention to repent of racism
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone…
Baptist adoption ministry comes full circle for Texas family
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — For Gloria Hernandez Padilla and her daughter, Belinda Perez, the ministry of a Texas Baptist adoption agency has come full circle — with adoptee Hernandez Padilla becoming grandmother to another adopted child. Gloria Hernandez Padilla, one…
Study links religion to racial prejudice
WACO, Texas (ABP) — More than 50 years after Martin Luther King lamented that 11 o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America, a Baylor University study suggests that religion itself may be a contributing factor in racial…