Fewer Americans may be joining churches, but about the same number as before are reading the Bible, a new survey finds. The bar for determining who reads the Bible is fairly low by most Sunday school standards — pollsters define…
Transitions for the week of 5-28-21
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Christopher Adams, to Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, as pastoral assistant, effective June 27. Matt Bennett, to…
Tennessee and Arkansas top the list of anti-trans legislation but many bills die in other states
While the 2021 state legislative session has produced more anti-LGBTQ legislation than any previous year — often supported by evangelical Christians — many of the anti-transgender bills have failed in statehouses. The latest setback for anti-transgender bills came in Texas…
It’s not just the SBC banning Critical Race Theory; now state legislatures are joining the fight
Southern Baptist seminary presidents aren’t the only ones up in arms about Critical Race Theory. Their affirmation that the six SBC seminaries will not teach about systemic racism and inherent injustices is sweeping Republican-led state legislatures this year. Bills in…
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…
Three female victims of Boko Haram terror graduate from U.S. colleges this spring
Three Nigerian students who once were kidnapped or had a family member killed by Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria have graduated from American universities this spring. Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu recently earned degrees from Southeastern University in Florida, while…
Three dozen others join NAMB in asking Supreme Court not to allow McRaney case on religious liberty grounds
The case of a Baptist state convention leader fired because of what he considers undue influence by a national Southern Baptist Convention agency is drawing intense national interest — but not for the underlying merits of the case itself. More…
Judson College will close and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
An urgent fundraising appeal late last year had appeared to save Judson College, but declining enrollment and wary creditors sealed the historic school’s fate. After 183 years of operation, the Baptist-affiliated college will file for bankruptcy protection and will not…
SBC loses another 435,000 members in 2020
The Southern Baptist Convention has lost 2.3 million total members — or 14% of its membership nationwide — since its peak in 2006. New annual data tracking key metrics for the nation’s largest non-Catholic Christian denomination was released last week,…
Dreamers want White House and Congress to do more for their protection
The Biden Administration must do more to protect DACA than invite Dreamers to the White House and streamline the bureaucratic process that grants temporary residency to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children, recipients of the program say. So…
Q&A with a traumatologist on how to prevent clergy abuse and burnout
Editor’s note: The following article was published by BNG on June 7, 2021, but is being republished today because of its relevance to the new report on sexual abuse in the SBC. The unwillingness or inability to do the…
Separation of church and state looks different through the eyes of minorities, BJC speaker says
The First Amendment and concepts such as separation of church and state and freedom of religion seem to signal that religious diversity is strong in the United States. “Well, that’s not really true,” Khyati Joshi, author of White Christian Privilege:…