Pope Francis was directly involved in the latest round of dialogue between the Baptist World Alliance and the Catholic Church. The fifth meeting of Phase III of the international Baptist-Catholic dialogue took place Dec. 12-16 in Rome, hosted by the…
Oklahoma could have nation’s first publicly funded Catholic charter schools
A Catholic charter school funded by taxpayer dollars is likely coming to Oklahoma soon, based on a recent ruling of the state’s outing attorney general, with support from the re-elected governor and newly elected state superintendent of public education. For…
CBF appeals for immediate support for Mississippi Delta tornado victims
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has issued an urgent appeal for donations to provide food, water, clothing and housing for Mississippi Delta residents whose trailer homes were shredded Dec. 14 by tornadoes and storms that also ripped through parts of Louisiana,…
BNG columnist David Ramsey dead at 61
BNG columnist David Ramsey died at his North Carolina home Sunday, Dec. 11, after a brief illness. He was 61. “BNG greatly mourns the loss of this beautiful life among us, someone who courageously chronicled his own journey from cradle-roll…
‘Give up desire for control if you want to reach your community’
Church leaders must abandon the desire for control and prestige and cooperate with other ministers if they seek to be effective agents of change in their communities, a New Jersey pastor and street minister believes. “One of our main responsibilities…
4 in 10 Americans believe we are living in the end times
Evangelical Christianity is built on the ever-present possibility of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This belief permeates sermons and songs alike and has spawned a cottage industry of books and movies. Talk of the “end times” often is used…
Dig deeper when looking for your church’s racist or anti-racist history, Gardner advises
A church may have a racist past even if its archives reveal no evidence of support of slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, segregation or other racist structures, author and historian Andrew Gardner said during a recent webinar hosted by the Alliance…
New Food and Faith course at Wingate University has college students gardening and learning to cook as they learn about religions
New to Wingate University’s religion department is a course titled Food and Faith, a class that takes freshmen through the basics of religious eating practices, discusses the ethics of food in popular culture and even incorporates some instruction time in…
Transitions for the week of 12-16-22
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Amanda Allard, to Westwood Baptist Church, Cary, N.C., as children’s minister. Daniel Bailey, to Latonia Baptist Church, Covington,…
Pioneering missionary journalist Craig Bird dies in Texas
Baptist journalist and educator Craig Bird died Dec. 12 at age 73 due to complications from a fall he experienced the week before, according to his family. Bird, who was born in Arkansas on Oct. 4, 1949, to Clyde and C.W….
Amanda Tyler testifies before Congress against Christian nationalism
For an ever-so-brief moment Dec. 13, a congressional hearing on the rise of anti-democratic extremism morphed into a Sunday school lesson as Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, fielded questions on the history of Baptists…
Have the ‘nones’ hit a plateau?
The so-called “nones” may now have something in common with most American churches: They’ve plateaued, according to Gallup. Amid all the attention that’s been given to the dramatic growth of this segment of the American population — those who tell…