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…
Pastor says not all Baptists support ‘bathroom bill’
A Texas Baptist pastor joined interfaith clergy in a rally outside the state Capitol Aug. 1 challenging the narrative that the faith community as a whole supports proposed legislation to require transgender people to use public bathrooms that match the…
Veteran of Southern Baptist Calvinist ‘reformation’ reflects on success
Journalist Colin Hansen’s groundbreaking 2008 book “Young, Restless, Reformed” dubbed Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., “ground zero” of the New Calvinist movement in the Southern Baptist Convention, but it was a far different place 35 years ago.
Baptist-backed ‘bathroom bill’ advances in Texas
The Texas state senate voted July 25 to advance a controversial “bathroom bill” backed by social conservative groups including the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
Transitions for the week of 07.28.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES David Cox, to Florence Baptist Church, Forest City, N.C., as minister of youth and instructional technology. Travis Crocker,…
Nation’s opioid epidemic reaches critical proportions as churches ask: ‘What can we do?’
Many experts — including national health officials, ministers and domestic missionaries, health care chaplains and law enforcement officers — describe the epidemic as among the worst on record.
Chronic pain sufferers feel forgotten in anti-opioid efforts
The focus on limiting medications prescribed for acute pain — such as that experienced after dental or medical procedures — is bleeding over into the way many doctors are treating chronic pain, too.
‘Ministerial exception’ not a shield for wrongdoing, former Baptist leader says in lawsuit
A Southern Baptist Convention entity cannot hide behind the separation of church and state to avoid liability for wrongful termination and defamation, claims the latest argument filed in a dispute in federal court.