The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced Oct. 12 it is accepting applications for grants up to $10,000 to aid pastoral leaders burdened with personal debt. The Ministerial Excellence Initiative, funded with a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s National Initiative…
Oklahoma Baptist official supports ‘no-aid’ repeal
Oklahoma’s top Southern Baptist official is disputing a recent newspaper headline implying that many Baptist clergy oppose a proposal to repeal a prohibition in the state constitution against using taxpayer funds for religious purposes. Anthony Jordan, executive director of the…
‘Alabama Baptist’ announces editor succession plan
Veteran Baptist journalist Jennifer Davis Rash has been named editor-elect of the Alabama Baptist. Rash, who has worked nearly 21 years at the Alabama Baptist Convention news journal and the last six years as executive editor, was designated to follow…
Transitions for the week of 10.14.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Alyssa Aldape, to First Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., as associate pastor for young adult and youth ministries, effective…
Oklahoma governor urges prayer for oil industry
Oklahoma’s governor is asking citizens to pray Oct. 13 for the state’s oil industry, a major contributor to the economy recently in a downturn as crude oil prices dropped to the lowest levels in 15 years. Gov. Mary Fallin proclaimed…
Bridging divides in post-election season will be challenging for churches
While sociologists slice the population into thinner and thinner samples for examination, columnist and radio host Byron Williams says the most neglected — and dangerous — segment is “the Bob Dylan demographic.” Quoting a famous Bob Dylan song, Byron said,…
Focus must be on behavior, not age, in shaping relevant ministry
For years now, Christian communities have been intensely focused on serving Baby Boomers, Millennials and other groups demarcated by age. But that focus alone is no longer going to cut it for churches genuinely interested in being relevant to the…
Study ranks incomes of religious groups
Compared to Episcopalians and Presbyterians, Baptists store more of their treasure in heaven than on earth, according to a new comparison of household incomes of U.S. religious groups by the Pew Research Center. The analysis of Pew’s 2014 Religious Landscape…
Network to promote creation care, eco-justice among American Baptists
A new national network reflecting what organizers term a growing sense of call to creation care and eco-justice among the American Baptist Churches USA held an inaugural meeting Sept. 22-23 in Sherborn, Mass. The ABC Creation Justice Network, envisioned in…
Types of Christians drawn to Enneagram growing
Michael Sciretti Jr. has spent years teaching about, and guiding students through, the Enneagram, an ancient practice that inspires spiritual growth through personality typing. And Sciretti, who is a Baptist, said he has also learned how important it is that…
Baptist groups appeal for Haiti aid
The Baptist World Alliance asked the worldwide Baptist family Oct. 10 to donate money for relief efforts in Haiti, the hardest hit area when Hurricane Matthew swept across the Caribbean and along the southeast U.S. coast between Sept. 28 and…
Clinton campaign answers query from ‘disability vote’
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged as president to work to ensure that Americans living with disabilities have the same educational and employment opportunities as everyone else in society in response to a request by faith-based organizations for political…