I minister on the periphery of Baptist life, trying to start a progressive Baptist church in the heart of the old empire. I’m old enough to remember well the Baptist wars of decades ago, and yet new enough to ministry…
A CBF leader for the future
By Ircel Harrison The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has a nominee as third executive coordinator of the organization. Once again, the nominee is from Texas, but this nominee is female and a layperson — Suzii Paynter. Prior coordinators Cecil Sherman and…
Emergence Christianity, Baptist life, and Flannery O’Connor
A little over a week ago, I walked into the Gibson guitar factory in Memphis, and gathered with six others to begin our tour. The group was fairly evenly divided by gender, with three men and four women. We asked…
CBF and the emergence Christianity movement
Last week I attended the Emergence Christianity event in Memphis featuring Phyllis Tickle, Brian McLaren, Nadia Bolz-Weber, and others. The emergent crowd is an interesting group, with lots of diversity: age, denomination, and plenty of piercings and tattoos if not…
Bring ye all the tithes into the PayPal
By Bill Leonard On the first Sunday of 2013 we picked up our offering envelopes at First Baptist Church, Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem, N.C. Our pastor encouraged us to do so, noting that some boxes never leave the building. Eschewing…
Bring ye all the tithes into the PayPal
By Bill Leonard On the first Sunday of 2013 we picked up our offering envelopes at First Baptist Church, Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem, N.C. Our pastor encouraged us to do so, noting that some boxes never leave the building. Eschewing…
When we can’t forgive, we’re stuck
To celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, Nancy and I went to “Les Miserables,” a musical I had never seen before. Nor have I read the 1,500 page novel, although I’ve been hearing references to it all my life. Unavoidably,the…
3 questions for worship
By Bob Burroughs This is a three-question commentary, so please stay with me. First: Who is watching? As I was standing recently (20 minutes!) in a contemporary church service (and since I didn’t know the praise song) I found myself…
What if Jesus were gay?
Wendell Berry has effectively stirred the pot. In my homestate, Kentucky, at my alma mater, Georgetown College, Berry spoke about gay marriage. He spoke to the cultural palpitations revealing a diseased spirit. It’s a spirit steeped in hate, and maligned…
Overlooking Joshua
By Miguel De La Torre Among Christians, one of the most powerful biblical stories is the Exodus, where God enters history and guides God’s chosen people toward the Promised Land. The trek of former slaves toward liberation resonates with many…
Robert Griffin III, the Redskins and dying churches
It was awful. It was embarrassing. I couldn’t watch it anymore. My team, the Washington Redskins had started a good fight against the Seattle Seahawks on a recent Sunday night football. The Redskins came out strong and scored 14 points…
MLK and Mrs. Robertson
By Roger Lovette When any of us move from one place to another we take with us memories that don’t always fit into a suitcase. As we come to remember Dr. King on his birthday, I recall a Birmingham memory…