Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Gary Dalton, to University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va., as interim pastor. Larry Greenfield, to the Parliament of the…
Pastor wants SBC to repudiate Confederate flag
An African-American pastor is asking the Southern Baptist Convention to adopt a resolution calling for elimination of public display of the Confederate flag. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, recently submitted a resolution for possible consideration…
Baptists respond to earthquake in Ecuador
Baptists in Europe and North America responded with relief efforts to Saturday’s earthquake in Ecuador, which killed more than 500 people and was described as the worst disaster the country has faced in 60 years. Rescue and relief professionals from…
Florida ministries changing lives — one child, neighborhood at a time
Brian was 10 years old when he first enrolled at Touching Miami with Love, an organization sharing Christ’s great love through literacy and educational ministries. Yet, Brian couldn’t read. Although he had struggled with dyslexia for most of his life,…
Laying on of hands? A lot of Americans do it, study says
A new study has found that nearly nine in 10 Americans have relied upon healing prayer at some point in their lives, praying for others even more than for themselves. “The most surprising finding is that more than a quarter…
Civil rights panel blasts new state religious liberty laws
The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has denounced new state “religious liberty” laws backed by Southern Baptist state conventions as a trend to use religion as an excuse to deny people their human rights. The independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising…
Faith groups work to mobilize ‘disability vote’
American Baptist Home Mission Societies has joined more than 100 organizations and individuals encouraging political candidates to address disability concerns. The Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition, a program of the American Association of People with Disabilities, is collecting signatures to an open…
Pilgrimage making comeback — even with Baptists and unbelievers
Baptists and many other Protestant Christians are gradually embracing ancient physical practices that nurture spiritual growth. “I have a friend, a Baptist pastor, who makes his own prayer beads and I carry prayer beads in my pocket all the time,”…
C.J. Mahaney says churches should defend their pastors
Fresh off an invitation to speak at a major pastor’s conference that stirred up memories of an alleged child sex-abuse cover-up at his former church, Pastor C.J. Mahaney reminded members of Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, Ky., of their biblical…
McAfee preaching professor returning to pulpit
Brett Younger, associate professor of preaching at Mercer’s University McAfee School of Theology, has been named senior pastor of the historic Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. Younger, 55, takes over June 1 as pastor of the Congregational church founded in…
As Millennials leave the church, some youth ministers ponder ‘scary stats’
Nearly six in 10 Millennials who grow up in churches leave to join the growing ranks of Americans with no religious affiliation, new research shows. That spells confusing and scary times not only for congregations worried about their futures, but…
Pastor seeks higher standard for reporting sexual abuse
A Southern Baptist pastor/blogger has submitted a resolution for consideration at the upcoming meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention calling on leaders to get tough on churches that tolerate or conceal sexual abuse. Bart Barber, senior pastor of First Baptist…