By Alan Rudnick After some saints of my church decided to clear out our Sunday school storage area (who wants to do that job?), an unusual question was posed: “What do we do with damaged Bibles?” I was not quite…
Are church camps, conference centers going away?
What is your most memorable experience at a church camp or conference center? Write it down quickly before these camps and conference centers disappear. My first remembrance of Ridgecrest Conference Center in western North Carolina is when I was five…
Vital Christianity: As I see it
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee Here on the eve of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly meeting in Atlanta, and with other national religious conventions recently in the news (for better or for worse), I choose to articulate what…
Who am I?
By Barrett Owen “I hurried to the gate, made my way on to the plane, stowed my luggage, and sat down next to Mother Teresa! I smiled and made eye contact. She politely said, ‘So, who are you? And what…
How do we respond to slumping church attendance?
By Marv Knox Americans are kidding themselves — or maybe kidding each other — about church. The Public Religion Research Institute asked Americans how often they attend church. Is it “weekly or more,” “occasionally” or “seldom or never”? The answer…
How to throw away a Bible
After some saints of my church decided to clear out our Sunday School storage area (who wants to do that job?), an unusual question was posed: “What do we do with damaged Bibles?” I was not quite sure how to…
It’s still life
By Susan Sparks Recently, I saw an image on Pinterest that said “Life*” at the top, then underneath, in small print by the asterisk, it said: “Available for a limited time only, limit one per customer, subject to change without…
The congregational container
By Terry Maples Because I sometimes fly to distant cities as part of my work, I purchased a suitcase to meet airline carry-on luggage specifications. My new suitcase has a regular zipper to access my belongings; it has a second…
on she bears + self discovery
“(Elisha) went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, bald head! Go away, bald head!” When he turned…
Flower fights
By Bill Leonard In his 18th-century journal entitled, The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution, Anglican Parson Charles Woodmason offered this assessment of the people called Baptists: “They don’t all agree in one Tune. For one sings this…
Baptist identity and Millennials: Re-imagining church
By Bruce Gourley Within recent months David Gushee, ethicist at McAfee School of Theology, has argued that it is time for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to grow up and adopt organizational doctrinal parameters. Not doing so, he argues, alienates young…
Pain demands to be felt!
By Seth Vopat If you haven’t taken notice yet of the latest young adult fiction book to obtain massive fan appeal then you are missing out. John Green’s novel-turned-movie, The Fault in Our Stars, isn’t your typical teenage fiction novel….