By Bob Allen While opinions differ on President Obama’s use of executive power, Congress still needs to act on long-term immigration reform, says Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader Suzii Paynter. “No matter where we stand on administrative action, it’s only a…
Weekly communion heals, unites N.C. church and community
By Jeff Brumley It was back around 2008, during a monthly Friday Lenten service at First Baptist Church on Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem, N.C., that Pastor Darryl Aaron made an unsettling observation. “The economy was real bad, tilting into the…
SBC leader criticizes Obama’s immigration initiative, while other faith leaders praise it
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman on public policy said he fears President Obama’s decision to act unilaterally on immigration policy will do more harm than good. Writing for Time, Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics…
U.S. Baptists engage in goodwill visit to Cuba
By Bob Allen A dozen U.S. Baptists recently traveled to Cuba to learn about Baptists there and bridge religious, political and cultural differences dividing the two countries. A delegation from Churchnet, also known as the Baptist General Convention of Missouri,…
Prof says ex-gay therapy inadequate to help homosexuals change
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary professor says “reparative therapy” is wrong not because it assumes that gay people can change but because it views homosexuality as a psychological problem instead of a sin. Heath Lambert, executive director of…
Gushee: LGBT equality is about more than who can have sex with whom
By Bob Allen A Baptist scholar in the news for changing his mind about homosexuality says in the past he wrongly assumed it was only about sex. “The whole issue has been misread, fundamentally, only as a sexual ethics issue,…
Author cites alarming trends in preacher burnout
By Jeff Brumley Travis Collins was a pastor for three decades, but it was only in the last 10 years of his pulpit ministry that he became disturbed by the rate of burnout among fellow preachers — especially the younger ones….
Texas Baptists cut spending, elect female president
By Bob Allen Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas meeting Nov. 16-18 in Waco approved a 2015 basic budget of $35 million, more than $2.1 million below this year’s spending plan. A grand total budget of $37,784,297 represents reduced…
Rick Warren says church cannot compromise on sex
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist megachurch pastor and Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren urged participants in a Vatican conference on marriage and the family “to never give up and to never give in” on the defense of sexual morality….
Trial date set for Union University murder suspect
By Bob Allen A former Union University student accused of killing his fiancée on the Baptist-related school’s campus in February is scheduled to stand trial May 12-14, 2015, on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Charles Pittman, 22,…
You’ve met the ‘nones.’ Now meet the ‘dones.’
By Jeff Brumley It figures. Just as churches, seminaries and congregational consultants were wrapping their heads around the concept of “the nones” in religious life, yet another term emerges for yet another category of Americans abandoning the church: “the dones.”…
Umbrella protests roil graduation at Hong Kong Baptist University
By Bob Allen The president of Hong Kong Baptist University drew criticism after refusing to hand diplomas to graduates on stage carrying yellow umbrellas, symbols of a student led civil-disobedience movement started in September called Occupy Central. The university allowed…