A conservative think tank known for attempts to teach alternatives to evolution in public schools is capitalizing on the first total solar eclipse to sweep coast-to-coast in 99 years to advance the hypothesis that life is too complex to have…
Mom of injured activist, clergy weigh in on violent protests in Charlottesville
The daughter of a graduate of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond was among peaceful protesters injured when a car plowed into a crowd during white nationalist marches over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
Churches in Charlottesville, Va., brace for alt-right protesters
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner church in Charlottesville, Va., hosted a community prayer service Aug. 8 in anticipation of an alt-right rally this weekend protesting planned removal of a Confederate monument that has the community bracing for violence. The 50-minute…
Did Robert Jeffress contribute to SBC decline with pro-war, pro-Trump statement?
As Christian denominations continue their downward spiral, some experts say the rapid descent is caused by the increasing politicization of the church and the erosion of church-state separation. A Gallup poll released last month found that the percentage of American…
City says church can’t rent space to community groups
A zoning crackdown in a Silicon Valley neighborhood has a dozen community groups searching for new venues and threatens the future of a 124-year-old American Baptist church that depends on rental income for about a third of its annual budget….
Transitions for the week of 08.11.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. Correction Ginter Park Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., has not sold its church building to Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond,…
Survey: Evangelicals not so hot on Bill of Rights
Evangelical Christians generally take a dim view of the Bill of Rights and freedom of speech, a newly published survey has found. The Barna Group uncovered those attitudes in a July study titled “What Makes America Great.” The survey asked…
Clash continues two months after SBC alt-right resolution snafu
Four years ago a line in Keith Getty’s song “In Christ Alone” sparked a debate over the meaning of the atonement. In nearly two months since the Southern Baptist Convention nearly failed to pass a resolution condemning the alt-right movement,…
Baylor study looks at American faith, technology in ‘age of Trump’
In an era when millions of Americans dread the next presidential Tweet and the nation’s mental health professionals report increasing cases of “Trump anxiety,” a study to combining those topics may be especially timely. And that’s just what Baylor University…
Mad the pastor didn’t make a hospital visit? Question: did you call?
The words sting all these years later. They came earlier in Alan Rudnick’s pastorate when a congregant called to chastise him for not visiting another member in the hospital. “You’re not doing your job,” the caller said. “You’re not being…
Former SBC ethics czar revels in access to Trump White House
Despite serving a quarter century as the Southern Baptist Convention’s point man on public policy, Southern Evangelical Seminary President Richard Land says he never had the White House’s ear the way he does now as a member of President Donald…
Transitions for the week of 08.04.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Debbie Bennett-Reynolds, to First Baptist Church, Ithaca, N.Y., as pastor, effective Sept. 1. Kevin Bumgarner, concluding his tenure…