It’s been a rough week for the nation’s LGBTQ Christians thanks to Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. And for some gay and lesbian Christians, it’s been too much.
Transitions for the week of 12.08.17
Staff changes, congregational news and more from across the nation.
Supreme Court appears closely divided in dispute over cake for same-sex wedding
U.S. Supreme Court justices weighed religious freedom against LGBT rights during 60 minutes of oral arguments Dec. 5 about whether the First Amendment bars Colorado from requiring a baker to create a cake for a same-sex wedding.
Is Christian decline in U.S. prompting evangelicals to seek government endorsement? Maybe.
Eighty-three nations have an official, state-endorsed religion or give preferred treatment to one over others, according to a Pew Research Center study, which lists the United States among 106 countries that have no official or preferred faith. But is that changing? It might appear so, as the increasingly rapid descent of organized religion may be fueling some Christians’ drive to codify faith in America.
Baptist ethicist says values voters should care about torture
A Baptist ethicist urged “values voters” who care about morality and believe in the sanctity of human life to hold lawmakers accountable for mistreatment of war on terror detainees during a hearing looking into one state’s role in a controversial CIA torture program used after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ready to ‘welcome the stranger,’ Baptist church invites Muslim spiritual leader to preach Advent service
Some folks may be stunned to learn that a Baptist church in Charlotte, N.C., has invited a Muslim to preach from its pulpit on the first Sunday in Advent. But the idea seemed a natural one for the congregation, given its 2017 preaching and formational theme titled “Awakening to Immigration.”
State Baptist group says Nashville Statement is ‘without error’
Southern Baptists in Arkansas recently endorsed a controversial statement released by a coalition of evangelical leaders in August that says the Bible does not leave room for people to identify as both Christian and gay.
Transitions for the week of 12.01.17
Staff changes, congregational news and more from across the nation.
Cross is ‘preeminent symbol’ of Christianity and should be removed from public park, say church-state watchdogs
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has joined 13 other religious and civil rights organizations urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling finding a cross erected on public land in Pensacola, Fla., is unconstitutional.
Baptist ethicist says ‘egalitarian theology’ a safeguard against abuse
The incoming head of a Baptist ethics agency says church teaching that subordinates women is partly to blame for the rash of allegations of sexual abuse by powerful men in media, business and politics.
Richard Land challenges Roy Moore to take lie detector test
A former Southern Baptist Convention executive and current adviser to President Trump says a lie detector test would clear up questions about whether multiple claims of sexual abuse being made against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore are true.
Transitions for the week of 11.24.17
Staff changes, congregational news and more from across the nation.