Mission work and ministry are taking on a dizzying array of new looks in the 21st century. Just ask Greg and Sue Smith, Baptist missionaries who spent years performing traditional mission work in Latin America before opening a ministry serving…
Poll finds consensus on contraception, division over gay marriage and transgender controversies
Two-thirds of American adults believe employers who have religious objections to contraception should be required to cover birth control as part of their employees’ insurance plan, according to a new Pew Research Center survey about recent controversies pitting claims of religious liberty…
Former pastor caught in Internet prostitution sting sentenced to prison
A former Southern Baptist pastor in South Dakota was sentenced Sept. 27 to 46 months in prison for attempted trafficking of what he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. Joseph Raleigh, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Miller, S.D.,…
Protesting injustice is the modern Baptist’s evangelism, activists say
Like many who grew up Southern Baptist, Betsy Sowers fervently believes evangelism is the answer to the most pressing issues of the day. “I am very Baptist about that,” the Massachusetts resident said. But Sowers doesn’t define evangelism only as talking to…
Liberia seminary closure attributed to clerical error
An official in Liberia’s national labor court has been cleared of wrongdoing in a missing check scandal that caused temporary closure of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary and forced its American president into hiding to avoid arrest. Front Page Africa…
BJC’s Walker says Okla. ballot question poses danger to religious institutions
A Baptist expert on religious liberty termed a ballot initiative repealing Oklahoma’s prohibition against using state funds for religious purposes “a dangerous road” toward the intermingling of church and state. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for…
Churches urged to talk to Millennials and nones, not just read about them
The news just never seems to get better for American churches. A poll released this month confirms statistically what clergy and congregations are hearing anecdotally and through the media practically all the time: the percentage of U.S. adults who are…
Baptist Joint Committee names executive director
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty voted Sept. 26 to name Amanda R. Tyler, a former BJC intern and staff member, as its next executive director. Tyler, who currently works as Ways and Means counsel for U.S. Rep. Lloyd…
Latino funerals often foster Baptist and Catholic cooperation
Sermons in the United States are said to be getting shorter and shorter. Maybe. But that’s not the case for pastors officiating funerals for Latino Christians. “Oh yes, the preaching can last an hour,” said Ruben Ortiz, pastor of Primera Iglesia…
ESV gets final revision as ‘unchanged’ word of God, publisher says
The third most popular translation of the Bible has just become, officially, the unchanging word of God. The latest edition of the English Standard Version, or ESV, included a 52-word revision followed by a board vote declaring the text will…
The missing gospel in Black Lives Matter
The summer of 2016 has been dubbed by some the Summer of Justice. As the presidential candidates held their conventions, unrest in America could no longer be contained. Demonstrations by grassroots chapters of the Black Lives Matter movement demanded justice…
Consortium for Global Education marks 30 years supporting ‘educational lighthouses’
Launching the Consortium for Global Education’s 30th year, participants from across the nation and around the world gathered Sept. 14-16 on the campus of Ouachita Baptist University for the organization’s annual meeting. The consortium, which was established in 1987 under…