“When people of faith come together, anything is possible. Everything is possible. That is the power of faith,” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told the National Baptist Convention USA in a keynote address Sept. 8. Harris, who is a Baptist, spoke to…
In Colonial Williamsburg, a paved-over parking lot and an almost-lost school teach lessons about racism
Recent archaeological and architectural discoveries revealed part of “the hidden story of racism in colonial America” for participants in a Baptist News Global educational tour of Colonial Williamsburg and Richmond, Va. In Colonial Williamsburg, they visited the original building site…
Transitions for the week of 9-9-22
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Neal Abbott, to Dellview Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, as pastor. Jonathon Acosta, to Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference…
Queer Christian artist Semler wants to attend the Dove Awards as somebody’s plus-one
With their album The Preacher’s Kid, Semler was the first openly queer Christian artist to climb to No. 1 album on the Christian music charts just last year. Within the same year, Semler released a second No. 1 album titled…
A friend defends Matt Chandler, the elders issue a statement, and nothing else is any clearer
If you thought the Matt Chandler situation couldn’t get more peculiar, guess again. Chandler’s Aug. 28 announcement that he would take an indefinite leave of absence from preaching and teaching at The Village Church north of Dallas has generated endless…
An entire city with no water doesn’t fit the playbook for disaster relief organizations
When the capital city of Mississippi had no running water for an entire week, government agencies came to the rescue with water distribution outlets, but some of the major faith-based disaster relief organizations were nowhere to be found. Why? The…
He served on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, and now he’s rallying conservatives to oppose the death penalty
A former member of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has helped launch a new anti-death penalty group to educate fellow conservatives and lobby state lawmakers about the flaws of capital punishment. The new branch of Conservatives Concerned About the…
Pandemic exposed injustices, but those lessons are fading away, research shows
The realities of racial, economic and gender injustice exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic began to fade from consciousness only a year later, according to researcher Eileen Campbell-Reed. During the first two years of the coronavirus outbreak, the Baptist theologian and…
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…
Kansas school district gives $95,000 to teacher who violated its own policies on student names and gender
A Kansas middle school teacher who refused to call transgender or nonbinary students by their preferred names and pronouns has been financially rewarded for her defiance of school district policy — by the school district. Teacher Pamela Ricard will get…
GenZ South Africans remix tech, African spiritualism and church
They are Gen-Z Black South Africans, highly educated, raised in typical “Christian homes,” but now flipping the script. Via aggressive use of Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, they’re re-inventing themselves as entrepreneurial “Afro-spiritualist” healers, fortune readers or dream interpreters. It’s all…
A view from the drought: How climate change and hunger and the war in Ukraine are conspiring against life in Africa
In many parts of the world today, two major issues of concern are the rising cost of goods and services, and the scarcity of food. The inflationary aspect is in part connected to the war in Ukraine and the crisis…