Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., has announced a $100,000 gift to help build North Carolina’s first homeless shelter for LGBTQ youth. The gift, announced March 30, will help Time Out Youth — a support and advocacy organization for lesbian,…
Orphan care takes center stage in LGBT/religious liberty debate
Adoption and foster care are taking center stage in the latest conflict between LGBT equality and religious liberty. In the Texas legislature, State Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls) is proposing an amendment to the state’s Human Resources Code to protect…
Transitions for the week of 03.31.17
Clergy and organizational staff moves, church news, obituaries and more, updated weekly.
Stuffing shoe boxes for the world’s poor? Maybe you should reconsider
For many churches, Operation Christmas Child is a well-established — and easy — expression of their compassion for the poor. Some congregations, however, are discovering better ways to engage the world’s impoverished.
As faith-based activism rises, so does need for advocacy training
Donald Trump’s November victory and January inauguration cast many into despair about the nation’s future and into doubt about its values. But Trump’s presidency so far has also produced at least one upside: to inspire tens of thousands, if not…
Baptist entrepreneur David Cassady named president of Kentucky seminary
Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, a theological education partner of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has named longtime moderate Baptist educator and entrepreneur David Cassady as its second president. Cassady, 56, will succeed founding president Greg Earwood, who retired last year. He…
Impact of Trump refugee cuts felt by churches, nonprofits and internationals
The limit President Trump has placed on the number of refugees who can enter the U.S. has devastated those who have languished in overseas refugee camps for years. While the travel-ban portion of Trump’s second executive order has been placed…
Engaging the immigration debate: Ethicist, pastor differ on New Sanctuary Movement
A Baptist ethicist says flaws in America’s immigration system don’t rise to the level of a moral issue to justify the use of civil disobedience, but a Washington, D.C., pastor believes churches should do everything in their power to renounce language of criminality in the immigration debate.
Transitions for the week of 03.24.17
Clergy and organizational staff moves, church news, obituaries and more, updated weekly.
Prior to health care replacement bill being pulled, range of Baptist leaders said ‘no’
A Baptist minister joined hundreds of interfaith clergy and community leaders in a Capitol Hill rally March 22 opposing the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act as legislation moved to an expected showdown vote on March 24.
Trump returning to Liberty University as commencement speaker
President Donald Trump will deliver the spring commencement address at Liberty University, returning to the scene of an appearance in January 2016 that helped put him on a path to winning widespread evangelical support in last year’s election. The school…
Are public attitudes toward clergy changing? It’s complicated.
Few ministers need coaches or surveys to tell them what Americans think of clergy these days. They can rely on their own experiences for that. Amy Butler does. Based on interactions with strangers on flights, at parties and in other…