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…
Baptism: Neither a means of obtaining grace nor a trivial ritual
By looking back to their beliefs and practices from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century, Baptists can reclaim a view of baptism between the poles of sacramentalism and “mere symbolism,” church historian and theologian Sheila Klopfer said. Historically,…
Sewing skills are key for Portsmouth congregation
PORTSMOUTH — It started with a sewing pattern and a mission conference. Bruce Powers, pastor of Westhaven Baptist Church in Portsmouth, attended the MC2 conference sponsored by the VBMB last summer at Eagle Eyrie. Staffers of the Woman’s Missionary Union…
Baptists urged to consider risks of ‘majoritarian faith’
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (ABP) — Baptists in the United States — who find themselves members of a religious majority or plurality in many areas — would do well to remember their humble beginnings as a persecuted minority and to reconsider the…
Virginia Baptists respond to W. Va. floods
GILBERT, W.Va. (BP) — In the wake of flash floods that washed away rural roads and even mountainsides over six southern West Virginia counties on Mother’s Day weekend, Virginia Baptists joined other Baptist disaster relief feeding units and mud-out crews…
What does it mean to be Baptist?
Some of the same theological disputes that divided Baptists throughout their first 400 years continue to distinguish different branches of the Baptist family tree in the early years of the 21st century, theologian James Leo Garrett said. And other challenges…