By Bob Allen The Center for Congregational Health, a joint venture between Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina founded in 1992 to provide assistance for struggling churches, will be renamed and restructured to…
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Church rehabs home for ministry outreach
By Jeff Brumley Gary Montgomery recalled the first time, a couple years ago or so, he laid eyes on the foreclosed, rundown house a bank had donated to his Tallahassee-based prison, ex-offender and family ministry. “The bathtub fell into the…
CBF leaders join pope’s poverty prayer
By Bob Allen Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are endorsing Pope Francis’ “global wave of prayer” to end world hunger on Dec. 10. On Tuesday, the CBFblog will highlight ministries of CBF field personnel working to end hunger around…
OPINION: God moved into the neighborhood
Have you ever had the opportunity to drive through an old neighborhood and thought, “Why haven’t they just bulldozed this whole place? This is a mess! This is an eyesore! The people still living here should get a medal.” Jonathan…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Prophets: champions of compassion
Prophets are rare today. Traditionally, they expose our blind spots, unclog our deaf ears and rub raw our calloused hearts. Mostly, these pesky truth-tellers enlarge our world’s vision. Prophets point us to God’s kingdom, awaken our consciences and stir our compassion….
VITAL SIGNS: Making sense of change
Everywhere I look, I see transitions underway as we close out 2013. Whether it be friends in the news business, local congregations, ministers in transition, my own employment situation or significant family transitions, everyone is undergoing some sort of change….
Ruling removes what has been called the most important tax benefit available to ministers
(ABP) — A federal judge said Nov. 23 that an IRS rule allowing clergy to avoid paying taxes on a part of their income designated as a housing allowance violates the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. Senior United…
Bible Belt Baptists can learn from small Baptist minorities overseas
If they have ears to hear, Baptists in places like the United States’ Bible Belt, where Christianity is the norm, can learn lessons from Baptist minorities in other parts of the world, Baptist World Alliance leaders insist. Many Baptists in…
Humanitarian aid, human rights advocacy bolster Baptist witness
Aid and advocacy create a positive witness for Baptists globally, leaders of the Baptist World Alliance noted. When Raimundo Barreto, director of the BWA division of freedom and justice, was in Vietnam a couple of years ago, a government official…
EDITORIAL: Parting words
As I write this I am sitting in the pastor’s study of Williamsburg Baptist Church, where I am serving as interim pastor. Outside the window a large red-tailed hawk stands like a sentinel in a stout, leafless walnut tree growing…
At Women’s Get-Away, participants challenged to hear and tell stories of God’s work in their lives
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Fall colors and bright sunshine highlighted the Nov. 1-3 Women’s Get-Away, an annual event sponsored by Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia, which this year drew almost 800 women to Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center around the theme,…