By Bob Allen Leaders of American Baptist Churches USA and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship met recently in Philadelphia and Atlanta to explore closer cooperation between the two groups, interim Coordinator Pat Anderson told the CBF Coordinating Council Feb. 22. Anderson…
OPINION: A surveyor’s map
There is a bridge to nowhere where I love to go. The sculpture is a meandering walkway of wood and steel that rises into the trees with seemingly no real purpose whatsoever. As I approach the entrance I have two…
VITAL SIGNS: Resistant or resilient: A critical distinction
Two of the more important words for a congregation to ponder in the 21st century are resistant and resilient. Which of those two words better describe your congregation (and you) may well determine whether your congregation is viable in the…
Assn. may retain gay-friendly church
By Robert Dilday A Baptist association in Virginia will consider a recommendation March 19 to retain ties to one of its churches which ordained an openly gay man to the ministry last year. A Richmond Baptist Association study committee will…
Texas House honors Suzii Paytner
By Bob Allen The Texas legislature honored incoming Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader Suzii Paynter Feb. 28 with a House resolution recognizing her advocacy work on numerous social issues during more than a decade of service with Texas Baptists. The resolution…
Building relationships in China
By Daniel Wallace Retirement for David and Ann Wilson looks a little bit different than it does for most. For them, it means going to China – and trying to get others to go with them. The Wilsons are the…
Female Baptist minister resigns
By Bob Allen A woman whose call as a pastor in 2011 sparked controversy in an association of Baptist churches in North Carolina has resigned, citing a lack of consensus among members about the congregation’s vision and direction for the…
Institute to study black-on-black crime
By Bob Allen Arkansas Baptist College honored the memory of a student murdered last year by dedicating a new research center March 1 bearing his name to address the problem of black-on-black violence in America’s cities. The new Derek Olivier…
Church offers community a way to dispose of documents — and shred some sins in the process
ROCKVILLE, Va. — It began with a cluttered office and the need to dispose of numerous boxes of financial records, explains Mark Hughes, pastor of Berea Baptist Church in Rockville, Va. Realizing that properly destroying sensitive information would require more…
LETTER: Yoga is incompatible with Christianity
I was saddened to read in the Jan. 28 edition of a Christian pastor practicing yoga. I am writing because many Christians do not understand that yoga involves more than just getting in to certain body positions and that it…
TRENDING: The leadership-discipleship-mission triangle
One way to read trends in the evangelical world is to watch how national conferences like Catalyst, Exponential, and VERGE are “theming.” Based on this, there is evidence that the North American conversation is centering on the theme of discipleship….
Newly-shorn heads offer striking spiritual lesson as church participates in ‘hair’ ministry
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — It wasn’t just monetary gifts that were dedicated to God as the congregation sang the Doxology at First Baptist Church in Elizabeth City, N.C., one Sunday morning in February. As the music sounded, 11 people with…