Pushing the church and its ministry beyond its four walls requires overcoming the fear and uncertainty that usually block the way, Thomas Rusert says. Rusert, a Lutheran pastor in Doylestown, Pa., learned that lesson last summer when he began making himself available for…
NCAA won’t divest from schools that discriminate
The NCAA will not divest from colleges and universities requesting religious exemptions from Title IX regulations that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the association’s “chief inclusion officer” said March 15. Bernard Franklin, executive vice president of education…
North American Baptist Fellowship seeking new leader
The North American Baptist Fellowship, one of six global regions affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, is accepting applications for a new general secretary. George Bullard, president of the Columbia Partnership, recently announced he is stepping down July 31 after…
‘Religious liberty’ bill passes Georgia House, Senate
The Georgia General Assembly passed an amended “Free Exercise Protection Act” March 16 that now heads to an uncertain fate with the state’s Republican governor. Capping two years of lobbying efforts by groups including the 1.3-million-member Georgia Baptist Convention, the…
Transitions for this week
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Paul Batson, to First Baptist Church, Elizabeth City, N.C., as pastor. He comes from the pastorate of Nobles…
Thinking of church membership in new ways, thanks to ‘cyber hospitality’
The way Susan Sparks sees it, congregations are missing a huge opportunity to share the gospel by not livestreaming their worship services. “We represent a messiah who used every available opportunity he had to reach out,” said Sparks, pastor at…
BJC’s Brent Walker urges vote on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee
A Baptist church-state expert welcomed President Obama’s March 16 announcement of a nominee for a Supreme Court seat vacated by the death last month of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. In a Rose Garden ceremony Wednesday morning, the president announced his…
‘Evangelical elite’ just doesn’t get it, claims pastor and Trump supporter
A Southern Baptist pastor who has been supportive of GOP presidential front runner Donald Trump says leaders of an “evangelical elite” vocally opposed to Trump are out of touch with people in the pew. “There is an absolute disconnect between…
Baptist group welcomes latest easing of U.S. pressure on Cuba
An Alliance of Baptists leader is applauding new policies easing restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba unveiled by the Obama administration March 15.
Confused by issues in the 2016 presidential campaign?
This year’s presidential campaign has taken some of the strangest twists in U.S. history. Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, suggests nine books that can help clear things up.
Former SBC leader claims 2016 election most important since the Civil War
The former head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commissions says the possibility of a lesser-of-two-evils choice in this year’s presidential election cannot deter conservative evangelicals from going to the polls. “The 2016 election year is well…
Not all evangelicals afraid of dialogue, Muslims and Christians say
A new study illustrates in numbers what many already know intuitively: evangelicals aren’t big on dialoguing with anyone but themselves. “Evangelicals seem to have a particularly difficult time talking to those outside their group,” the Barna Group reported in a March…