By John Chandler I have to hand it to my friend and Virginia Baptist colleague, Glenn Akins. In the early 2000s, Glenn came back from meeting two relatively unknown pastors, Dave and Jon Ferguson of Community Christian Church in the…
Pastors grieve, too
By Bill Nieporte In the last three years, I have conducted funerals for almost 40 percent of the active participants in my congregation. I have also officiated more than a dozen funerals for non- and inactive members. These numbers might…
10 lessons: looking back on Holy Week
Holy Week invited us to reflect on the deeper matters of faith by revisiting the story of Jesus, especially giving attention to the events that occurred between Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem and his resurrection. The overarching message of God’s love…
That pesky word ‘Evangelical’
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee Each week someone in the news uses the words “evangelical” or “evangelicalism” as a description, epithet or lament. Often the most visible uses of the term occur when someone who is “in” wants out,…
Gardening: A metaphor for churches
By Bill Wilson In recent years, I’ve been giving a good deal of thought to metaphors that communicate clearly what a healthy church or minister is like. There are many of them, but the one that I keep returning to…
Baptist environmentalism: remembering Earth Day 1970 and Henlee Barnette
April 22, 1970 was an important day in the history of our nation. It marked the first-ever celebration of Earth Day — an event that put environmentalism front-and-center in American society in a very visible way. With more than 20…
Don Draper’s progress
“I keep wondering: have I broken the vessel?” Don Draper’s mid-flirtation confession to his airline seatmate in the April 13 premiere of the seventh (and final) season of the AMC drama Mad Men may prove to be the single most…
My speech to seminary graduates
By Brett Younger Once again, no seminary has chosen me to give the speech at their graduation service. My mother and I don’t get it. We both feel like I’m the perfect person to hand out the kind of inspirational…
‘He is risen!’: What does it mean?
By Chuck Queen A florist mixed up two orders on a busy day. One was to go to a new business, the other to a funeral. The next day, the guy with the new business stormed into the shop. “What’s…