Even Quakers are experiencing the cultural challenges besetting many Christian groups. But that doesn’t worry them too much, said Quaker pastor, writer and speaker Philip Gulley. “I don’t think the goal of Christianity should be its ongoingness,” said Gulley, author…
Baptist says ‘religious liberty’ bill threatens … well, religious liberty
A Missouri religious liberty bill passed last month by the state Senate after a 39-hour filibuster once again kept lawmakers up late at night, when a five hour debate April 13 in the Missouri House of Representatives ended after midnight…
Transitions for the week of 04.15.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Billy Bishop, concluding his tenure as director of music at Mount Zion Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Aaron Brooks,…
Baptist leaders wonder: Can congregational polity weather cultural challenges?
The way Jay Kieve sees it, the congregational form of church governance is ideally suited to enable congregations to who they really are, where they are. “It’s genius,” Kieve said, “is that its spirit works … so each church is…
Faith coalition cites survey condemning payday lending practices
Religious opponents of payday lending got a boost Wednesday from the release of a new research confirming widespread Christian condemnation of the practice. Faith for Just Lending, a diverse coalition of faith groups, released a report titled The Collateral Consequences…
Pastor in alleged sex abuse cover-up returns to preaching conference roster
Organizers of a major preaching conference this week in Louisville, Ky., ignored calls to disinvite a founder of the conference accused of participating in a cover-up of child sexual abuse. C.J. Mahaney, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, took…
Attendance bullying: it contributes to church decline, author says
Michelle Van Loon has seen several sides of Christianity as a child of the Jesus movement who ended up, for a time, in a fundamentalist church. So she can spot the difference between concern and control in a congregation. She…
CBF endorses 1,000th chaplain
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship reached a milestone March 5 with its endorsement of the 1,000th person serving in ministry as a chaplain or pastoral counselor. CBF leaders announced April 12 that with the endorsement of Erin Lysse, a second-year chaplaincy…
Brazilian Baptist church opens doors to gays
More than 100 members of the Alliance of Baptists signed a letter at the group’s annual meeting last week voicing solidarity for a sister church in Brazil taking heat after voting to open its membership to gays and lesbians. In…
Two boys prove effectiveness of special needs ministries, church says
Tyler Tooley and Blake Dorchester were born with Down syndrome, but the boys do not let that prevent them from participating in ministry and missions. In March, Tooley and Dorchester traveled across the globe with their church, Alsbury Baptist Church…
Alliance of Baptists moves ahead with plans to meet in N.C. to ‘model’ justice
Though some businesses are reducing or ending activity in North Carolina to protest the state’s new controversial LBGT law, the Alliance of Baptists says it will move forward with plans to hold its gathering next year in Raleigh in order to register its…
Transgender Baptist minister depends on ‘theology of survival’
Allyson Dylan Robinson, who may be the first openly transgender person ordained to the ministry by a Baptist church, talks about what spared her life years ago on a deserted Texas highway.