By Bob Allen The former District of Columbia Baptist Convention executive minister and former pastor of Washington’s First Baptist Church has been named executive director of American Baptist Home Mission Societies. According to American Baptist News Service, Jeffrey Haggray, interim…
Rob Nash named interim dean at McAfee
By Bob Allen Mercer University’s James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology announced June 25 the appointment of an interim dean to take over when founding dean Alan Culpepper steps down July 1. Rob Nash, a professor of missions and…
Confronted with shocking violence, pastors struggle for the right words
By Robert Dilday In Baptist pulpits across the country last Sunday, pastors recast previously written sermons to grapple with the killing just days before of nine black members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., by a white…
Churches urged to consider millennials’ views on the environment
By Brian Kaylor A lot of planning, praying and, yes, worrying, goes into what millennials — those born in the 1980s and 1990s — think about church and worship. Some experts on the generation, including some of its own members, say an…
Churches urged to make July 5 ‘Freedom from Racism Sunday’
By Robert Dilday Congregations around the country are being urged to participate in “Freedom from Racism Sunday” on July 5, when many churches will mark Independence Day in worship services. The New Baptist Covenant has joined the National African American…
SACS extends probation for Louisiana College
By Bob Allen Louisiana College’s accrediting agency is keeping the private Christian school in Pineville, La., on probation, giving officials more time to address concerns about undue external influence by the Louisiana Baptist Convention. The accrediting commission for the Southern…
Baptist colleges lose Obamacare challenge
By Bob Allen A federal appeals court ruled June 22 that the religious exercise of two Texas Baptist colleges isn’t substantially burdened by a requirement they opt out of contraceptive coverage required under Obamacare. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of…
Union University murder trial postponed
By Bob Allen The trial of a former Union University student charged with murdering his fiancée 16 months ago has been postponed a second time. Charles Pittman, a former Christian ministries major and member of the golf team at the Baptist-affiliate…
In grappling with autism, from surviving to thriving
We feel alienated. We’re scared to tell you about our son’s ASD. We don’t want you to treat our daughter any differently than other kids. Sometimes we don’t understand our child’s behavior any more than you do. We feel judged….
CBF participants want more than talk about racial reconciliation
By Marv Knox The time for merely praying about racial injustice is past, a roomful of participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly agreed last week. They called for action. The mixed-race group participated in “Let Justice Roll Down:…
Mohler won’t remove slaveholder names from seminary buildings
By Bob Allen The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s oldest seminary says he agrees with the denomination’s ethicist that it’s time to take down the Confederate flag, but he has no plans to remove the names of slaveholders from…
Former youth minister sentenced for sex crimes
By Bob Allen A judge in Cherokee County, Ala., has sentenced a former Southern Baptist youth minister to 10 years in prison for sex crimes, but it won’t add any time to the 15-year sentence he already received in another…