My pastor tells me that, with the downturn in the economy, more people are requesting assistance from our church. We have limited funds. What can we do? Your church is not alone in facing the extra strain on resources. Having…
Religious charities gain in a down year
Religious organizations reported a 5.5 increase in donations last year, a marked contrast from the nationwide 2-percent decline in charitable giving, according to a study by Giving USA Foundation. Religious congregations, which accounted for 35 percent of the total $307…
Megachurches attract many under 45
Megachurches are most attractive to younger adults, and almost all who arrive at their sanctuaries have darkened a church’s door before, a new survey shows. The study by Leadership Network and Hartford Institute for Religion Research, released June 9 found…
Barmen Declaration offers relevant lessons 75 years after its publication
ATLANTA (ABP) — A document written three-quarters of a century ago to protest rising nationalism in Nazi Germany’s Protestant churches provides instruction for American Christians navigating through today’s culture wars, say a Baptist ethicist and Methodist filmmaker working together against…
Missouri Baptist layman takes on emergent movement
WINFIELD, Mo. (ABP) — Thirty years after the Southern Baptist Convention began ridding itself of theological moderates and liberals, a prominent Missouri Baptist layman is warning that the nation’s largest non-Catholic faith group now faces a different kind of liberalism…
BAPTIST BRIEFS
Baptist Women in Ministry director named. Pam Durso of Atlanta has been hired as the new full-time executive director for Baptist Women in Ministry. Durso, currently associate executive director-treasurer of the Baptist History & Heritage Society, will begin her duties…
Former SBC officer says he’s praying for President Obama’s death
BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) — A former Southern Baptist Convention officer called the murder of a controversial abortion provider in Kansas an answer to prayer, and he told a talk show host he also is praying for President Obama to…
Ministers seek investigation into police shootings
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Black Baptist preachers in Jacksonville, Fla., are calling for an independent investigation into a rash of recent shootings by police. Family members said Kiko Battle, fatally shot by police, wanted to be a barber. The…
Baptist ministers facing sex charges appear in court
LIBERTY, Mo. (ABP) — Southern Baptist ministers facing molestation charges in three states had recent days in court. Robert M. Black, 40, pastor of New Home Baptist Church near St. Joseph, Mo., pleaded not guilty June 18 to felony…
Baptist leaders urge Congress to pass climate-change bill
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — A total of 140 moderate Baptist leaders signed a June 18 letter urging passage of a comprehensive energy bill that includes caps on emissions linked to global warming. Drafted by the Baptist Center for Ethics, a…
Historic Baptist ordination practices reveal a tangled web
Pragmatism and tradition have stood alongside biblical and theological principles in shaping Baptist ordination practices, church historian Karen Bullock told the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute colloquy. “The concept of ordination as practiced by Baptists today is a complex — even…
HERITAGE: Transitions
On the last Sunday of May, Bill Tuck was extended warm farewells as he concluded a 20-month interim pastorate at the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C. The congregation formed a long line to give handshakes and hugs to Bill…