Two self-described survivors of the True Love Waits phenomenon have produced a series of podcasts exploring faith, sex and life in the wake of the evangelical “purity” movement.
Two LGBTQ-inclusive churches reevaluating relationship with CBF following adoption of new hiring policy
Pastors of at least two Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches say they are reconsidering affiliation with the 1,800-church network in light of a decision by CBF leaders to relax, but not totally lift, a ban on hiring LBGTQ people.
Like God, hip-hop gives voice to the oppressed, Chicago preacher says
Jonathan Brooks was introduced to faith growing up in a Missionary Baptist church on Chicago’s Southside. But he met Jesus through Christian hip hop. “For me, it’s always been the fact that [hip-hop] was a voice for the marginalized and for the oppressed,” Brooks says. And the same, he adds, is true about God.
CBF relaxes policy on hiring LGBTQ staff, but maintains some restrictions
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will continue to make sexual orientation a consideration in some, but not all, employment decisions with a new hiring policy and implementation plan adopted Feb. 9 by the CBF Governing Board.
CBF moderator says proposed LGBTQ hiring policy meets Fellowship Baptists ‘where they are’
The top elected leader of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship described a review of the organization’s LGBTQ hiring policy to be voted on this week as an attempt to meet various CBF constituencies “where they are” on a highly charged issue on which there is no consensus.
Super Bowl MVP offers key to survival for struggling churches, minister says
Leave it to a pastor to find encouragement for churches in a Super Bowl victory speech. That’s exactly what American Baptist Alan Rudnick does in his Feb. 6 blog post, “Churches, listen to Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.”
Transitions for the week of 02.09.18
A listing of staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths for the week.
Baptists among nearly 150 groups opposing Johnson Amendment repeal
In advance of Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, 145 organizations called on Congress to reject attempts to weaken a rule that bars churches receiving tax-exempt status from engaging in partisan politics.
Longtime BNG/ABP staffer moving to New Baptist Covenant
Lindsay Bergstrom — a veteran editor and graphic designer who worked nearly two decades mostly behind the scenes in a myriad of roles for Baptist News Global and its predecessor, Associated Baptist Press — is taking her talents elsewhere.
Baptist activist ready to ‘get in the way’ of pipeline construction
Opposition to a proposed interstate fracked natural gas pipeline that would cut through mountain ridge tops and other environmentally intact landscapes from West Virginia through Virginia and North Carolina is entering the stage of civil obedience, according to a Baptist church member arrested during a sit-in at the office of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper Feb. 2.
Bi-vocational, black female pastor overcame doubters to thrive in pulpit
Like any pastor, LaTonya McIver Penny is busy. But this minister’s calendar goes above and beyond busy. In addition to leading New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Roxboro, N.C., and all that entails, Penny is a mother of two and runs a non-profit advocating for the respectful and compassionate treatment of children with disabilities in churches. And like other women pastors, Penny confronted her share of opposition from those who say females should not be pastors.
CBF leaders urge passage of clean DREAM Act
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader urged Congress to pass a law extending protection to undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children in a telephonic press conference in early February.