The head of the Southern Baptist Convention public policy and religious liberty arm blasted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ grilling of a potential White House official over comments about Islam. Sanders (I-Vt.) said during a June 7 nomination hearing that Trump nominee…
Transitions for the week of 06.09.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Megan Gant, to Jersey Baptist Church, Lexington, N.C., as family minister. Dan Gaudinier, to First Baptist Church, Augusta,…
Former United Way executive nominated to lead CBF
Former St. Louis United Way CEO Gary Dollar has been nominated as 28th moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Dollar, a former member of the CBF Governing Board, will be voted on as moderator-elect when the 1,800-church Fellowship meets June…
Author dispels small thinking behind small-church myths
A lot of Christians share the assumption that the bigger the church, the more blessed it is. One of the biggest flaws in that assumption is that it’s poor theology. “God is not more concentrated because there are more of…
Annie Armstrong’s home church at risk of foreclosure
The Southern Baptist church where Annie Armstrong was baptized is at risk of being evicted, according to an investigative story by the Baltimore Sun. Seventh Metro Church in Baltimore, formerly known as Seventh Baptist Church, wound up in tax auction…
Group wants Southern Baptists to remove gays from ‘sin list’
Picketers at next week’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix will seek to persuade messengers and leaders to remove LGBT individuals from the “sin list” in the nation’s second-largest faith group. Faith in America, a North Carolina-based advocacy organization,…
Pastors seeking to empower West Louisville unimpressed by governor’s prayer-walk solution
A call by Kentucky’s governor to pray away gun violence in predominantly African-American West Louisville fell on deaf ears of clergy hoping for more tangible solutions to more than 50 homicides in the Commonwealth’s largest city so far in 2017….
‘Tiny House Nation’ helps Baptist minister launch Hawaii retreat center
A very small home, a pastor’s Baptist identity and her evolving spiritual direction have found unlikely expression on the hit reality series “Tiny House Nation.”
Transitions for the week of 06.02.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Alfonso Campbell III, to New Baptist Covenant, as interim director of programs and communications. Laurel Cluthe, to Holmeswood…
Mosque backed by Baptists wins in lawsuit settlement
A religious liberty case that sparked controversy after two Southern Baptist Convention agencies filed legal briefs supporting the right of Muslims to build a mosque in New Jersey has been settled. Bernards Township, N.J., will pay $3.25 million in damages…
Texas Freedom Network head says using religion to discriminate violates the Golden Rule
The leader of a Texas civil-liberties organization formed to counter the Religious Right speculated in a radio interview May 27 that the state’s child welfare crisis helped boost a controversial bill headed to the governor’s desk allowing state-funded providers of…
Research finds Americans are obsessing over morality — again
The human penchant for worrying about the state of morality is ageless. In the 1950s, the popularity of rolled-up jeans, slicked back hair and rock’n’roll music frightened Americans so much that many feared juvenile delinquency would be the ruin of…