A large majority of Americans don’t want to hear political endorsements from the pulpit, according to a new report by LifeWay Research. Four out of five Americans (79 percent) do not believe it is appropriate for pastors to endorse candidates…
9/11 inspired Baptist, Muslim to find Bible-based brotherhood
What a difference 15 years makes. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the United States has endured two gut-wrenching wars and a resulting debate over immigrants, refugees and Muslims that divides the nation. But there also has been enough…
Baptist peace group head receives heritage award
LeDayne McLeese Polaski, executive director of Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America ~ Bautistas por la Paz, was 2016 recipient of Furman University’s Richard Furman Baptist Heritage Award. Polaski, who has worked for BPFNA in various roles since 1998 and…
Hillary Clinton talks faith, values, with black Baptists in Kansas City
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton set aside her “Midwestern Methodist” reluctance to wear her religion on her sleeve, and preached to the choir in a message peppered with Bible verses and personal experiences in African-American churches in an address Sept….
‘Secret church shopper’ reports quality of welcome determines if guests will visit a second time
Greg Atkinson is one of those guests who give churches the chills. Whenever he visits a congregation for the first time, he loiters around the parking lots and restrooms, sizes up ushers and security and lurks around the nursery and…
Transitions for the week of 09.09.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Arnie Adkison, to Buckner International, as chief development officer. He most recently was executive director of global resources…
NBC/USA president calls for greater sensitivity in race relations
The president of a major African-American denomination who earlier this summer participated in a groundbreaking discussion about improving race relations with leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Sept. 8 that non-blacks often lack empathy for the plight facing black America….
Advocates for disabled, indigenous peoples, clash over Rio Paralympics
A human rights organization that advocates on behalf of indigenous people groups around the world criticized organizers of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games for depicting Brazilian tribal people as savages. Survival International took exception to a press release announcing participants…
Georgia church takes missional presence global
Johns Creek, Ga., is situated on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, an area that once served as a meeting place between rival Cherokee and Creek people. Tom Blue Wolf, a Creek descendent, told an interviewer the tribes were inspired…
Prosperity gospel preacher confirms illness
A controversial “Bapticostal” megachurch pastor has confirmed he is facing a “health challenge” amid rumors that he is terminally ill. Bishop Eddie Long, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., released a statement Sept. 6 acknowledging…
‘Upstart’ Baptist news site aims at becoming Kentucky’s conservative media voice
The editor of the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s online newspaper says fellow journalists covering politics in the state capital shouldn’t be surprised about getting scooped on a breaking news story. Kentucky Today editor Roger Alford editorialized Sept. 7 that he was…
CBF leader charged with shaping Fellowship’s ‘young Baptist ecosystem’
Devita Parnell is no stranger to the occasional confusion and curiosity elicited by sharing her job title with others: young Baptist ecosystem manager for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. “One time I mentioned my title to a woman at church and…