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.
CBF prepares for vote on proposed hiring policy
A two-year review of a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship policy banning the employment of gays is wrapping up. The CBF Governing Board plans to receive the final report of the Illumination Project at a meeting Feb. 8-9 at First Baptist Church…
Key witness in Michigan State abuse scandal alleges double standard in evangelical church
The first woman to go public with allegations of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, the former sports medicine doctor at Michigan State University, says the laudatory public reaction to her story would have been different if it had happened at church.
Transitions for the week of 02.02.18
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Ronnie Hayes, to Oak Grove Baptist Church, Boone, N.C., as pastor. Previously he was interim pastor there. Jeremy…
TV news career prepared pastor for hectic ministry life
The directors of television newscasts lead intense, even frantic professional lives. They work long, caffeinated hours weaving together the up-to-the-minute contributions of producers, photographers and anchors into — they hope — coherent broadcasts. It’s much the same as shepherding a congregation, says Erica Van Brakle, a veteran of TV news production-turned-American Baptist pastor.