Time in Argentina will give you a snapshot of the world that is coming to North America. The trend will be that our culture becomes increasingly multicultural (and multilingual) and highly urbanized. Like the current global south, the North American…
VITAL SIGNS: Why your church building-use policy matters
I know firsthand how utterly boring and laborious creating a building-use policy can be. Every church I have ever served has entered into a major building project. The debate around building use has been a constant. It also has evolved…
Super Bowl big day for traffickers
By Daniel Wallace While Baltimore and San Francisco fought it out on the gridiron Sunday in New Orleans, law enforcement and ministries across the city were waging a battle against the modern version of the slave trade: human trafficking. Authorities…
‘Fresh expressions’ of church in NC
By Robert Dilday About 80 percent of North Carolina’s 9.7 million people don’t attend church and reaching them will require a “mixed economy” of both existing congregations and new forms of church, a group of Baptist leaders was told Feb….
Super Bowl tradition with a twist: Charlottesville church blends shelter ministry with viewing party
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — University Baptist Church, like many American congregations, has a Super Bowl tradition, but for the Charlottesville, Va., church there’s a twist — the viewing audience is homeless men seeking shelter from the sub-freezing temperatures typical during February…
John Leland Center partners with Prison Fellowship to train students in justice advocacy
ARLINGTON, Va. — The John Leland Center for Theological Studies is partnering with Prison Fellowship International to provide training and educational opportunities for the seminary’s master of divinity students. The collaboration, announced Jan. 30, is part of Leland’s ministry rotation…
VITAL SIGNS: Staff-led or staff-controlled?
One of the key predictors of strong congregational health is the type of leadership the ministerial and paid staff of a congregation offers. When the staff of a congregation functions out of strong spiritual and organizational health, the entire faith…
OUT LOUD
“Worshiping communities that pay attention to the waxing and waning that we find in Scripture … are the healthier for it.” Richard Wilson The professor of Christian theology at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., was discussing the value of following…
WINN RECOMMENDS
The Evolution of Adam, by Peter Enns (Brazos Press) In the area of human origins, the theological debate currently brewing is over whether or not the creation story demands a literal, historical Adam and Eve (verses Adam and Eve as…
TRENDING: Lessons from Argentina, part 1: Bilingual
Hola mis amigos, ¿cómo estás? I’ve returned from study leave, much of which I’ve spent learning Spanish and living with some wonderful Argentine Baptist friends. “Why?” you say. First, because Argentina is awesome — have you ever heard of dulce…
Ravens or Niners? Christians face a ‘Super’ dilemma on Sunday
(RNS) — Who should Christians root for in Sunday’s Super Bowl: the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers? It may be a silly question to some, though not to millions of American believers who invest a lot of faith…
‘Mixed economy’ of existing and new forms of church needed to impact culture, N.C. leaders told
GREENSBORO — About 80 percent of North Carolina’s 9.7 million people don’t attend church and reaching them will require a “mixed economy” of both existing congregations and new forms of church, a group of Baptist leaders was told Feb. 1….