The spiritual connection between a 58-inch flat screen TV and the human soul may seem tenuous to many Americans. It may be even harder to believe how that elegantly simple IKEA coffee table makes life more complicated. But rest assured,…
Supreme Court sidesteps constitutional challenge to Obamacare
The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped the constitutional question May 16 of whether Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate substantially burdens the rights of certain faith-based organizations to exercise their religion, sending seven cases back to lower courts after both sides conceded there may…
Baylor names social work dean
Baylor University professor and administrator Jon Singletary has been named dean of the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, filling a vacancy created by the death of the school’s founding dean and namesake from pancreatic cancer last September. Baylor’s…
Companies report rise of chaplains in the land of cubicles
On any given Sunday, most Americans do not attend church. Most will, however, show up to work throughout the week. These individuals still experience times of uncertainty, personal and family turmoil, loss of love ones and other moments where they…
Jimmy Carter, Gregg Allman headline Mercer graduation
Pomp, circumstance and rock and roll are in store this weekend for graduates of historically Baptist Mercer University in Macon, Ga., set to hear an address by former President Jimmy Carter and a performance by musician Gregg Allman, who will…
SBC ethicist says feds using money to redefine gender
The Southern Baptist Convention’s top public policy spokesman criticized an Obama administration letter telling public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms of their choice as an attempt “to target children’s bathrooms for the sake of transgender ideology.” Russell…
Social media a source of ministry amid disaster, pastor says
Mitch Randall’s Facebook posts read much like those of any other minister, complete with links to audio sermons and youth group videos, kudos to family and church members and steady reminders of ministry needs and volunteer opportunities. But Randall, pastor…
Transitions for the week of 05.13.16
The latest staff moves, church news and more, updated weekly.
Legislation would bar religious discrimination in immigration
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty joined 30 other religious and religious-liberty organizations in a broad coalition urging passage of legislation making it illegal for Donald Trump, if elected president, to bar Muslim immigration. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) unveiled the…
Word & Way editor Bill Webb retiring this year
Veteran Baptist journalist Bill Webb announced plans to retire later this year, shortly after celebrating his 20th anniversary as editor of the Missouri Baptist publication Word & Way. Webb, 66, announced his retirement plans to readers in a May 10…
CBF church models open attitude on NPR
National Public Radio featured a small Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church in Louisville, Ky., in a two-part series May 10 on the different ways U.S. evangelicals are responding to shifting attitudes about homosexuality and marriage in the United States. NPR’s Morning…
Peace group head urges Obama to get specific during Hiroshima visit
The leader of the nation’s largest peace group focused on abolishing nuclear weapons and urged President Obama to get specific about his plans to reduce their number during his historic visit later this month to Hiroshima, Japan. The White House…