The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution June 14 criticizing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement to put economic and political pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian lands despite objections by an Arabic pastor. Pastor Jamal Bishara…
Belgium-based minister helping Syrian families to safety
Four years into a multi-faceted and sustained response to “the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era,” the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is continuing its efforts to serve Syrian refugees through field personnel and ministry partners in five countries. Belgium-based field personnel…
Transitions for the week of 06.17.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Robert H. Carpenter, to Courtland (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim pastor. Caleb Foust, to Emerywood Baptist Church, High…
Memphis pastor wins tight race for SBC president
Tennessee megachurch pastor Steve Gaines was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 15 when another candidate conceded in a runoff election that was too close to call. Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., came three…
Baptist editor calls for open meetings
In a motion at the Southern Baptists Convention June 14, a Baptist state newspaper editor asked trustees of all Southern Baptist Convention entities to open their meetings to the press. Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector newspaper in…
Southern Baptists renounce Confederate flag
One hundred seventy one years after its founding over a dispute about whether slaveholders could be appointed as missionaries, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a strongly worded resolution June 14 against public display of the Confederate flag. The resolution, as…
Small-town church gives big embrace to phones, social media in worship
Kevin Smith is a big believer is in using a Bible app, instead of a printed Bible, during Sunday morning worship. And he says it’s a good thing given the way his preacher preaches. “Brother John likes to jump around…
Southern Baptists convene panel on racial reconciliation
Meeting 20 minutes from Ferguson, Mo., Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd convened a historic national panel discussion on racial unity and the church in America June 14 at the America’s Center Convention Complex in downtown St. Louis. Floyd, pastor…
Southern Baptists pledge prayer for Orlando
Though the Southern Baptist Convention will be asked this week to adopt a statement affirming its opposition to same-sex marriage, the denomination opened its 2016 annual meeting in St. Louis, Mo., with prayer that God might “take that which Satan meant…
CBF chaplain, congregation serving victims of Orlando massacre
Following the tragic mass shooting June 12 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Cooperative Baptists are continuing to pray for and show acts of support to the victims, their families and the LGBTQ community. “As we continue to hear…
People of all faiths deal with ‘spiritual abuse’ following Orlando attack
Revenge and judgment are swirling through the culture since a lone gunman killed 49 and injured 53 in an Orlando gay night club early Sunday morning. But Ruth Jensen-Forbell and her mostly LGBTQ church in St. Augustine, Fla., aren’t among…
Another evangelical joins roster of Trump supporters, despite earlier opposition
Another evangelical leader has signaled support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, despite earlier predictions that Americans would be “bitterly disillusioned if he were to obtain the nation’s highest office.” Richard Land, the Southern Baptist Convention’s former top public policy…