Susan Sparks is a preacher and a stand-up comedian, which means she doesn’t have a lot of places to be these days. Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City, where she is senior pastor, isn’t meeting in person. And…
Transitions for the week of 7-17-20
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Derrick Arellano, to Westwood Baptist Church, Cary, N.C., as associate pastor for music and worship. Andrew Barrett, to…
Opposition to couple’s BLM sign inspires neighborhood unity
Someone in Lincoln, Neb., picked the wrong Black Lives Matter yard sign to protest in an anonymous note demanding its removal. For not only did Erin Palmer and Jonathan Redding keep the “offensive” sign in their yard, they added 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…
Baylor not yet where it wants to be on race, Livingstone tells forum
An Instagram page where people of color share experiences of racism at Baylor University illustrates that the Baptist institution is still not where it wants to be on matters of racial inclusion, Baylor President Linda Livingstone said during a virtual…
Q&A with Chris Sanders on unions, social justice and policing
Chris Sanders knows theology and law, and he’s an advocate both for labor unions and social justice. That blend of life experience and life passion makes for an interesting conversation these days — with the dueling demands of holding police…
More Americans are hungry, but ‘it doesn’t have to be that way’
It’s a fact that food insecurity is getting steadily worse in the United States in part because of the coronavirus, a Baptist mission expert reports. But it’s a myth that hunger and poverty are conditions Americans simply have to accept,…
At California church: Praise the Lord and honk your horn
After months of online worship, Barbara Aikens Walker was relieved finally to gather in-person with her church on July 5 — even if it was from inside her Jeep Cherokee parked inside a California parking garage. Walker said First Baptist…
In the UK, coronavirus has made ‘every street a parish’
In the United Kingdom, the coronavirus lockdown “has made every follower of Jesus a leader, every house a house church, and every street a parish,” according to a consultant who works with thousands of churches across denominational lines. Matt Bird…
Letters to the Editor for July 9
A response to David Gushee: Zoom church is not the nightmare Melanie Vaughn-West, Lauren Colwell, David Rensberger Five reasons I disagree with David Gushee Robert Wallace
In Kenya, worry about COVID-19 and now a plague of locusts
COVID-19 and gigantic swarms of crop-devouring locusts are compounding the challenges of hunger, poverty and war that many Africans already face. But there are communities where a reliance on faith and on internal economic capacity are helping people survive current…
Faith leaders lament loosened restrictions on payday lenders
Faith leaders were not surprised that the Trump administration gutted hard-fought regulations for payday lenders July 7, but they were nonetheless disappointed that years of advocacy for poor citizens appeared to be for naught. The federal agency charged with protecting…