Melissa Browning was drawn deep into the anti-death penalty movement when the state of Georgia was trying to kill Kelly Gissendaner last year. There were plenty of ups, including multiple delays in her execution date. And there were downs, too,…
Georgia Baptist spokesman criticized for Hitler comparison
Republican legislators took offense when a Georgia Baptist Convention official compared them to Hitler for failing to move forward with a bill intended to bolster religious freedom protections. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Republican House members blasting Mike Griffin, senior pastor…
‘Pilgrim’ identity is Baptists’ gift to the larger church, new book asserts
Baptists tend to be the “problem children” of the ecumenical movement but have gifts both to give and receive from the broader Christian community, a Baptist theologian who teaches in the school of divinity at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs,…
New transitions this week
Our latest roundup of clergy and staff transitions, and other items of interest, around the country.
LGBT groups seek NCAA sanctions for schools that discriminate
More than 80 LGBT sports, religious and youth advocacy groups have signed on to a public letter calling on the NCAA to divest from schools requesting religious exemptions from Title IX regulations that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or…
‘Religious liberty’ bill passes Missouri Senate
A proposal to add religious liberty protections to the Missouri constitution engineered with leadership from the state’s Southern Baptists has passed the state Senate, despite a 39-hour filibuster by Democrats who say it discriminates against gays and lesbians. Senate Republicans…
As U.S. holds world record for imprisonment, churches increase prison ministries
The United States locks up more people in prison — in raw numbers and in percentage of the population — than any other nation in the world. More than 2 million people are incarcerated in federal, state and county jails,…
Nation’s first for-profit Christian school loses bid to be nonprofit
An Arizona university founded by Southern Baptists but sold in 2004 to become the first for-profit Christian college in the United States has dropped its bid to change back to a nonprofit entity. Grand Canyon University’s self-perpetuating board of trustees…
Is opposition to death penalty a non-negotiable for Christians? Yes, says one theologian
A Baptist theology professor said in a blog March 7 that authentic Christians must oppose the death penalty, even if it leads to division in the church. Roger Olson, professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, said there…
Baptist political science prof running for Congress
A Southern Baptist college professor is running for Congress on a platform of religious liberty concerns he says emerged after last year’s Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. Hunter Baker, a political science professor at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., announced…
From slums and drugs to faith and hope: a young man’s journey
The neighborhood around the Baptist Children’s Center in Nairobi, Kenya, can best be described with one word: slum. For Ben Oscar, the word he used to describe it was “home.” As a 6-year-old in the early ’90s, Oscar lived on…
Churches helping refugees despite fear and rhetoric, say those involved in resettlement
For some Americans, domestic and overseas terror attacks, plus a good dose of anti-Syrian political rhetoric, have made refugee resettlement something to be feared. And a lot of the Americans who hold that view are churchgoers – including a lot…