A 21-year-old Kentucky man is in jail after stabbing his father during Sunday morning worship at a Southern Baptist church. Members and the security team at Hillvue Heights Church in Bowling Green, Ky., subdued assailant Ethan Buckley after he stabbed…
Good Samaritan act has ripple effect for CBF church
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church in metropolitan Atlanta gained national attention after the pastor got specific in a sermon about hospitality. “I have a proposal for you today,” Chris George said in his July 17 sermon at Smoke Rise Baptist…
Bluefield scholar seeks to take a bite out of interfaith tensions
Anti-Islamic sentiment is driving U.S. and European politics while religious hatred fuels world terrorism. Rob Merritt sees the roots of that animosity. “Most of the global conflict we see today has to do with religious controversy,” says Merritt, dean of the…
Church playground dispute erupts into battle over separation of church and state
A church playground in Missouri has become the battleground for the next big religious liberty case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court. This fall the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Trinity Lutheran of Columbia v. Pauley, a case…
Young people are tithing — but not to churches alone, researchers say
The idea of counting gifts to nonprofits other than a house of worship is a difficult concept for some church members to grasp. But congregations may have to come to grips with the concept and with the idea that younger generations tend to view tithing in broad terms.
Kentucky seminary names interim president
Academy of Preachers founder Dwight A. Moody has been named interim president at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, one of 15 theological education partners of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
Looking for the origin of decline in the U.S. church? Baptist historian thinks he may know the answer
Bill Leonard became fascinated with the topic of conversion early in his career, often teaching and preaching about the dramatic, and not-so-dramatic, ways Americans have become Christians throughout U.S. history. And by the early 1980s, Leonard said, the number of conversions,…
Author says political endorsements by pastors a bad witness
Pastors who endorse Donald Trump for president are putting their allegiance to a political party ahead of Christian principles, a Baptist minister with a Ph.D. in political communication suggests in his latest book. Brian Kaylor, author of Vote Your Conscience:…
Transitions for the week of 08.12.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Dan Agee, now serving as interim pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Floyd, Va. Adam Blosser, concluding his tenure…
Covering nudity in art reflects Church’s unwillingness to discuss important issues, say pastors
When Convergence, a congregation with Baptist ties in Alexandria, Va., hosted Edward Knippers’ massive paintings in an exhibition called “Violent Grace,” it had to cover the works during worship services of the Anglican congregation that shares its space. Why? Not…
Southern Baptist-led group opposes California anti-discrimination bill
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission released a letter Aug. 10 opposing legislation proposed in California to close a loophole that allows religious universities and colleges to discriminate against students and staff based on their sexual orientation…
Search on for American Baptist leader
The search for the next general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA is back on with the first meeting of a search committee Aug. 8 in Chicago. American Baptists began seeking a successor to Roy Medley, who retired last year…