A small-town Southern Baptist pastor in Alabama has resigned from his long-time volunteer job as public-address announcer at local high school football games after controversy over comments he claims were misquoted about fans who choose not to stand during the…
Progressive Christians counter agenda of the Religious Right
Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Jews and Presbyterians were among nearly 100 people gathering Monday, Sept. 12, in Frankfort, Ky., as part of a national march in more than 30 state capital cities across the United States countering the political voice of…
Baylor professor’s quest to preserve golden age of black gospel lands in Smithsonian
A Baylor University professor’s quest to preserve historic black gospel music has gotten the attention of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opens Sept. 24 in Washington, D.C., with an exhibit featuring African-American musical…
Grocery chain scion-turned-evangelist Howard Butt Jr. dead at 89
Howard E. Butt Jr., one-time heir apparent to run the 380-store H‑E‑B grocery chain before turning lay evangelist during the “youth revival movement” that spread from Baylor University to campuses across the country in the 1940s and 1950s, has died….
CBF coordinator says battling hunger a matter of Christian stewardship
One of the factors dividing U.S. communities is access to food, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader Suzii Paynter says in a series of videos featuring Christian leaders produced by the anti-hunger ministry Bread for the World. Paynter, executive coordinator of the…
U.S. churches face big ministry challenge in aging Baby Boomers
As a large group of Americans, the so-called Baby Boomers, have impacted U.S. society, culture, politics and religion for decades. With the oldest members of that famed generation now turning 70, the Baby Boom generation is poised to leave another…
Baptist pastor shows solidarity with Colin Kaepernick
An African-American Baptist leader joined NFL players across the country in a symbolic “kneel-in” Sunday, Sept. 11, to show solidarity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose refusal to stand during the national anthem at a preseason NFL game…
Poll says most Americans want to keep political endorsements out of church
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…