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…
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…
EDITORIAL: Aunt Ida needs more study
Dear Jimmy, Well, it’s one of those nights when I can’t sleep so I figure I’ll write you a few lines maybe sort out some things that are all jumbled up in my mind. Your uncle and I have had…
Book says SBC lacks system of preventing sexual abuse
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — A book released in advance of the June 23-24 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention claims the nation's largest Protestant faith group has more than 100,000 clergy, but no effective system of denominational oversight to…
Baptist women clearly left their mark in colonial America
“Some of the early Baptist church records did not even list the names of women members, and early histories of the Baptist faith in America gave little attention to the role and contributions of women,” she said. “Because of this…
OUT LOUD
“A faithful pastor cannot preach the gospel to unbelievers, let alone exhort and, dare I say, rebuke, backslidden and unregenerate church members, while satisfying a politically correct standard of niceness. This is the sort of niceness we could do with…
Southern progressivism left its mark on WMU
Southern-style Social Gospel may not be the first thing that springs to mind when most Baptists think of Woman’s Missionary Union, but Southern progressivism significantly influenced the organization in its formative years, church historian Carol Holcomb noted. Holcomb, associate professor…
SECOND OPINION: Opening up without watering down
Baptist churches of the Old South had a lovely image for describing entrance into church membership. They would announce that a door of the church was open. Anyone who came forward was asked to give a verbal confession of “their…
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…