Ben Mandrell is not the first president of Lifeway Christian Resources to leave the post for a pastorate, but the 48-year-old’s call to Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis is a rarity in the publisher’s 134-year-history. Earlier today, Mandrell accepted the…
Was Baylor’s decision ‘moral courage’ or ‘lack of courage’?
Sixty Texas Baptist pastors signed a “letter of support to Baylor University” saying President Linda Livingston demonstrated “moral courage” by rescinding acceptance of a $634,000 grant to study the exclusion of women and LGBTQ Christians in churches. “We commend Baylor’s…
Black Americans more frequently engage in religious practices than white Americans
There’s an 11-point gap between the share of Black Americans and the share of white Americans who identify as Christians. This is among the findings of the latest Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, which found 73% of Black Americans…
Class-action suit gains traction to preserve birthright citizenship
A federal judge in New Hampshire has granted class-action status to a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship and also blocked the administration from implementing the plan nationwide. U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante issued the order…
Court says Florida cannot enforce its own immigration law
Florida cannot enforce a new law making it a crime for undocumented immigrants to enter or remain in the state, the U.S. Supreme Court said July 9. The one-sentence order let stand a lower court ruling barring the state from…
Group behind state trans laws celebrates court wins
The Family Policy Alliance is celebrating recent Supreme Court victories for state laws it promoted that halt transgender medical treatments for minors and restrict online porn to viewers who can prove they’re 18 years old. The court also has agreed…
Christians Against Christian Nationalism growing with regional groups
Nearly 20 groups affiliated with Christians Against Christian Nationalism have been formed in more than a dozen states to advocate for religious freedom and to resist the religious hatred and violence sweeping the nation. And more churches or clusters of…
CBF Advocacy off and running, Hawks says
It’s been an intense year so far for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Advocacy ministry, Director Jennifer Hawks said. “What a year it’s been for all of us,” she said during a breakfast at the CBF’s June General Assembly in St….
Scopes at 100: The lasting legacy of the trial over human origins
Tensions between religion and science erupted in a hot and humid courtroom in Dayton, Tenn., 100 years ago this month. Fundamentalist celebrity William Jennings Bryan squared off against agnostic attorney Clarence Darrow in the trial of high school teacher John…
Trump administration says it won’t enforce Johnson Amendment
In a year already chock-full of wins for conservative evangelicals in their culture wars, the Internal Revenue Service said July 7 it no longer will enforce the Johnson Amendment that prevents churches and other nonprofits from endorsing political candidates. Although…
Florida faith leaders plead with DeSantis to slow executions
More than 100 Florida faith leaders signed a letter pleading with Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause the fast pace of executions in the state this year. Seven men have been executed already in 2025, and two more are scheduled to…
Mandrell to leave Lifeway for Memphis pastorate
Six years after taking leadership of Lifeway Christian Resources, Ben Mandrell is leaving for a prominent Tennessee pastorate. The pastor search committee at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis has unanimously recommended Mandrell as the church’s next senior pastor, succeeding Steve…