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…
ECFA study finds pandemic hit church finances harder than for other nonprofit ministries
Individual evangelical churches struggled financially much more during the COVID-19 pandemic than other kinds of ministries and nonprofits, leaders of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability revealed in a webinar hosted to unpack ECFA’s “2022 State of Giving” report. “Unfortunately,…
Ministry jobs and more
Baptist News Global provides a free listing of ministry-related jobs for Baptist churches, theological institutions and organizations across the United States. Each free posting is for 30 days and is limited to 150 words. Postings may be extended another 30…
Your words are not enough, Beth Allison Barr tells male SBC pastors on sexual abuse after Johnny Hunt’s ‘restoration’
Pastors guilty of sexual abuse never should be restored to ministry, Baylor University professor and author Beth Allison Barr wrote for a news service in the United Kingdom Dec. 9. The opinion piece published by Premier Christianity addresses the case…
Baylor study finds — surprisingly — that student athletes express higher levels of religious belief
Student athletes at Baylor University demonstrate higher levels of religious belief, participation and identity than their non-athlete counterparts at least in part because the Baptist school is successfully balancing faith and athletics, according to a study published last month in…
Ten years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Americans remain worried yet divided on the issue of gun violence
It’s been 10 years since 20 first graders and six adults were killed during a tragic attack by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School. News of the shooting shocked the nation. The event was one of the deadliest school…
White House approves 18-month extension of TPS for Haitian refugees as conditions worsen
The White House this week approved 18 months of additional Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals already in the U.S. and opened the door for newer arrivals to apply for the legal protection assuming they entered the country before Nov…
Houston pastor has a word of witness about the Bushes
Russell Levenson, pastor of Saint Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, sees himself as an eyewitness to history as the pastor of former President George H.W. Bush. Levenson has written a book in which he reflects on the character and kindness…