Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Mike Abbamonte, resigning as pastor of the west campus of Atlee Community Church, Mechanicsville, Va., to accept a…
Analysis: A timeline of CBF’s LGBTQ debate
Recent weeks have seen renewed interest in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 16-year-old policy that prohibits the intentional hiring of non-celibate gays and lesbians. Here’s a recap of how the 1,800-church Fellowship got to where it is today on the LGBTQ question,…
Another legal win for Missouri Baptists in case against breakaway groups
The Western District Court of Appeals in Kansas City, Mo., on July 5 overruled and denied motions by the Missouri Baptist Foundation for the court to either rehear the Missouri Baptist Convention’s case against it or transfer the matter to…
Separating mission and spiritual formation is bad strategy, say ministers
If he had a magic wand, Trey Lyon says he would likely transform the way churches conceive, fund and experience mission and spiritual formation. Basically, he would combine them. “I would love to see churches with ministers of mission and spiritual…
BJC says churches not entitled to taxpayer funds
Missouri’s ban on taxpayer funding for churches does not represent hostility toward religion but rather is a time-tested means of protecting religious liberty and the separation of church and state, claims a new brief filed at the U.S. Supreme Court…
Christian engagement growing as Cuba-U.S. ties improve
The level and frequency of United States-based Christian activity in Cuba has been rising since the normalization process between the two countries began in late 2014. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida has been building on existing relationships with Baptists and…
Retiring BJC head describes religious liberty as a yes/no proposition
Six months away from retirement, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty head Brent Walker reflected on 27 years of “seeking both/and solutions in the congested intersection of church and state” at an annual lunch gathering for BJC supporters June 24 during…
Missional DNA enabled churches to heal communities after Pulse and Sandy Hook
Pastor Terri Steed Pierce knew even before arriving at church the morning of June 12 that worship was going to be radically different at Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando. Many in her LGBTQ congregation knew victims killed or wounded…
Judge strikes down Mississippi religious freedom law
A federal judge has struck down a controversial Mississippi bill allowing citizens with “sincerely held religious beliefs” to deny services to gays, lesbian and transgender persons. U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued a 60-page opinion June 30 blocking enforcement…
Ethicist urges caution about changing CBF hiring policy
Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, has cautioned Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders about how to respond to growing demands that the organization reverse its 16-year-old ban on hiring non-celibate gays.
Sense of hopelessness, as mother takes kids to homeless shelter
It was 6 p.m. when Leticia Harley, her 2-month-old son and 2-year-old daughter could re-enter the emergency homeless shelter in Dallas. They would file in line early, three among many, looking for a safe place for the night.
Church seeks to ‘out’ minor victims of sexual abuse
A Southern Baptist church being sued over sexual abuse committed by a former Vacation Bible School volunteer currently behind bars is asking a court to reveal the identities of two underage victims.