Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Tyson Banks, to Broadus Memorial Baptist Church, Mechanicsville, Va., as youth minister. Taylor Elizabeth Bigelow, to Gwathmey Baptist…
Despite forced letter from Trump, agencies distributing USDA food boxes
Millions of boxes of USDA surplus food are being shipped with mandated letters from President Donald Trump asserting his concern to protect the well-being of Americans struggling through the coronavirus pandemic — including recommendations for wearing masks and practicing social…
Baptist layman offers lessons from South Africa on overcoming civil war
Talk of civil war is bandied about by Americans reeling from a pandemic, racial injustice, police brutality and a hate-filled election season. But politically motivated violence is no idle talk to Harold Tessendorf, a conflict management consultant and licensed mediator…
The true story of two immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. and the pastor who’s helping them
Michael Wangai (not his real name) has been in U.S. immigration “detention” since August 2019. The only crime he has committed is seeking political asylum in the United States with a certainty that if he returns to his home country…
Barna compares pre-pandemic anxiety to today, and you can imagine the results
No doubt Americans faced a bevy of mental health and relationship challenges before the COVID-19 pandemic. But the coronavirus, mounting political drama and escalating racial tensions have dragged the quality of well-being and relationships even lower for lay people and…
CBF Governing Board adopts strategic plan along with budget reduction for 2021
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Governing Board adopted a 2021 budget that calls for a 10% reduction in expenditures, which will primarily be achieved by staff adjustments. Meeting in executive session by Zoom conference Oct. 1, the 16-member board adopted a 2021…
Faith-based groups unite to denounce Trump’s further gutting of legal refugee resettlement
An array of American faith-based organizations roundly condemned President Trump’s Sept. 30 decision to limit refugee resettlement in 2021 to no more than 15,000. That would be the lowest level on record, following a year that already brough an 80%…
Black and white Baptist groups work side-by-side in Louisiana
Two Baptist traditions — one predominantly Black, the other mostly white — are leaning into a long-standing relationship to collaborate in disaster recovery efforts in Lake Charles, La., the coastal city ravaged by Hurricane Laura in late August. Even with…
Atlanta church turns Fellowship Hall into COVID-safe learning center for children
It took Smoke Rise Baptist Church’s Rebecca Caswell-Speight less than two weeks to organize and open a space for more than two dozen public school children to participate in virtual learning while their parents are at work. Among other tasks,…
CBF Governing Board will consider significant budget changes this week
When the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Governing Board convenes tomorrow and Friday, its decisions could reshape the organization more than at any other time in its 30-year history. Those decisions include both financial and structural changes made in response to a…
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…
Pizzas el Buen Samaritano puts refugees to work while waiting
A Baptist minister is confronting pandemic-induced poverty, widespread despair and menacing drug cartels by putting refugees to work baking and selling pizza in Mexico. Lorenzo Ortiz, who directs three shelters for refugees in communities that border the U.S., has launched…