By Bob Allen The South Carolina Baptist Convention voted Nov. 10 to withdraw fellowship from a church whose pastor married a gay couple with blessing of the church deacons. About 300 messengers at the 195th annual meeting of the state…
Baptist church to counter Westboro protests with ‘witness of inclusion’
By Jeff Brumley What should your church do if Westboro Baptist planned to picket the high school across the street? If you ask Pastor Jill McCrory of Twinbrook Baptist Church, the answer is stream giant rainbow banners from the windows…
Southern Baptists to be host for Bevin’s inaugural worship service
By Bob Allen Kentucky Gov.-elect Matt Bevin will break tradition by holding his inaugural worship service at a Southern Baptist church outside of downtown Frankfort, Ky. Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, confirmed on Twitter Nov….
Supreme Court to hear religious challenge to Obamacare
By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Nov. 6 to hear appeals from religious non-profits including Baptist universities and the Southern Baptist Convention’s insurance provider challenging required coverage of contraceptives under Obamacare. The high court combined seven cases to…
Seeing where God is at work in South Africa, Baptists from U.S. join in
By Aaron Weaver April 27, 1994. That’s the date that South Africa held its first democratic election, forming a multi-racial coalition government and officially doing away with the country’s brutal, five-decade long system of racial segregation and oppression. Nelson Mandela…
BJC essay contest to explore tension between job duties, personal belief
By Bob Allen Should elected officials be able to opt out of certain job duties because of their personal religious beliefs? How far should government go to accommodate elected or appointed government officials who object to issuing marriage licenses to…
Pew survey shows growing religious acceptance of gays
By Bob Allen Nearly all major religious groups have become significantly more accepting of homosexuality in recent years, even those, like evangelicals and Mormons, traditionally opposed to same-sex relationships, according to a new Pew study of religious belief and practice in…
Prayer could be performance enhancing. So should it be banned in sports?
By Jeff Brumley One standard the World Anti-Doping Agency uses to ban a substance is whether it enhances, or has the potential to enhance, athletic performance. Drugs aren’t alone in such scrutiny. The use of high-tech prosthetic limbs has caused…
SBC leader says racism alive and well
By Bob Allen Proclamations and public gatherings aside, racism is not gone from the Southern Baptist Convention, says the convention’s top spokesman for moral and public-policy concerns. “Racism is alive and well within the Southern Baptist Convention and within many…
Church replaces ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign
By Bob Allen After vandals stole its ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign, First Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain, Mass., now has two. While a crowd of about 100 gathered Nov. 1 for a reinstallation ceremony covered by the Boston Globe, an…
Church’s waning clout no surprise to ‘remnant’
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist scholar says a recent Pew study indicating Americans as a whole are growing less religious but that those who still belong to a religion are as faithful as ever simply confirms a “remnant” theme…
School, outreach open a ‘whole new world’ to Roma children
By Blake Tommey Estera loves to read. In her fifth-grade class at the Ruth School, Estera’s favorite subject by far is the Romanian language, and she lives to devour children’s novels. But some of her most cherished stories are the…