The stupid epidemic has arrived. Entire Christian denominations insist there is only one way to read the Bible, and they expel anyone daring to dissent. Politicians and the media reach for the accusation of “stupid” out of the intractable arguments….
Lessons from Cicero on America’s 247th birthday
I am reading the Roman statesman-philosopher Cicero these days. You might ask why in the world that dusty old personage should be occupying my thoughts. The answer is that, as part of the preparation of my new book on democracy,…
You can’t mandate colorblindness: Why the Supreme Court ruling is both wrong and immoral
A year and a half back, I was invited by Jake Owensby, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana and chancellor of the University of the South, to speak with his clergy about racism and white supremacy. That Saturday…
Why I’m investing my inheritance in women in ministry
Eleven years ago, when I became senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo., my cousin wrote on my Facebook page, “You have shamed our family.” I wasn’t really surprised by her reaction. After all, my extended family was…
The Big Sister comes to Bubba-Doo’s
Somewhere way back in Baptist life, someone saw fit to organize regional gatherings of churches. Maybe they did that so everyone had someone to play with. Or in order that no one would have to feel left out. So it…
Women’s leadership in the church is a primary issue
As an associate pastor, I made weekly hospital visits. The church’s size meant it was not unusual for me to meet church members for the first time in the hospital, which was what happened one Thursday morning when I knocked…
10 reasons your church should be welcoming and affirming
It’s Pride month, and here at Williamsburg Baptist Church we are wearing rainbow stoles in worship, hanging our usual rainbow banner out front and have rainbow origami butterflies hanging all about our sanctuary. It is a delightfully colorful season in…
The SBC just put the nail in its own coffin
I am thinking back on the past and looking at the present for the Southern Baptist Convention, the denominational body in which I was brought up and educated but which I left completely when the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message…
The Bible says nothing about queer people
For far too long the LGBTQ community has conceded Christianity to traditionalists and conservatives, allowing them to perpetuate the narrative that the Bible is clearly anti-LGBTQ and that being queer is a sin. But the truth is that most of…
Russell Dilday: A portrait of light
Less than a month after John F. Kennedy was buried in Arlington National Cemetery and the eternal flame was lit, it was extinguished. A group of Catholic schoolchildren visiting the memorial was blessing the site with holy water and managed…
‘I came to watch a great convention die’
I attended my first Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in June 1987. Participation was part of my first class at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Bill Leonard’s J-Term study of the SBC. I was standing with Leonard, then and still our…
7 things every church member needs to know about spiritual gifts
There have been times in my ministry where I have understated the importance of spiritual gifts, partly because of the way some spoke of such gifts with an air of spiritual elitism, and partly because I didn’t want to mislead…