It has been more than a year since Tina Bailey’s friend and student was executed by a firing squad in an Indonesian jungle, but that pain is still fresh on her face. “It’s been hard; but being a part of…
Religious freedom prompts Baptist professors to oppose Muslim travel ban
An organization of Baptist college and seminary professors is on record stating “concern and opposition” to President Trump’s plan to restrict travelers from predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States. The executive committee of the National Association of Baptist Professors…
Transitions for the week of 03.03.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Todd Combee, retired military chaplain, endorsed as first chaplain from the Baptist General Association of Virginia in new…
American pastors are older, and getting older, than ever
If you’re noticing a lot of gray in the pulpit at your church these days, you’re not alone. Pastors are getting older. “The aging of pastors represents a substantial crisis for Protestant churches,” David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group,…
Atonement tweet sparks blood feud on social media
When it comes to social media, there is power in the blood. “Questioning penal substitutionary atonement really brings out the 30-year-old white dudes in my feed,” contemporary Christian musician Michael Gungor commented during a Twitter storm he started Feb. 25…
Letting social media choose your Lenten practice can be rewarding — and humorous
Finding fresh ways to observe Lent, year in and year out, can be challenging. While Catholics, Episcopalians, Orthodox Christians and others can rely on tradition to guide them, some Christians and churches are left to their own devices. Fortunately for those…
For Baptist chaplain, strains in police force are real and painful
Tommy Deal wept the day five police officers were gunned down in Dallas last summer. Distraught, the Baptist minister jumped into his car in search of police to comfort — even though he was in Dalton, Ga., not Dallas. Geography didn’t…
Canadian Christians divide over Franklin Graham
Canadian Baptists joined other Christian leaders in an open letter criticizing evangelist Franklin Graham’s upcoming visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, released Feb. 24. Clergy from churches representing more than 60 percent of the Christians in the metro area said they…
Can Southern Baptist seminaries maintain gender restriction for pastors while encouraging women theological scholars? One school is trying.
A decade after Southern Baptist Convention seminaries were adding academic programs in homemaking to advance the denomination’s new emphasis on traditional gender and family roles in the church and home, at least one is creating opportunities for female students to…
Transitions for the week of 02.25.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Daren Barnett, now serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Winnebago, Minn. Joe Bumbulis, concluding his tenure as…
As some key congregations threaten to defund SBC, leaders look for solutions
Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are taking seriously threats to withhold funds by churches dissatisfied with recent positions on public policy taken by some of the convention’s agencies. During its board leadership meeting Feb. 20-21, the SBC Executive Committee…
Warning of ‘seeds of division and bigotry,’ 4,000 faith leaders oppose new refugee ban
Sixty Baptists are among 4,000 signers of an open letter opposing President Trump’s expected executive action barring travelers from the seven Muslim majority countries which were named in an earlier travel ban but declared unconstitutional by federal courts. A petition…