The transmogrification of the SBC: When Baptists no longer are Baptist

As the Southern Baptist Convention in its recent annual meeting has proved itself unreliably Baptist, it gives me pause to think about how quickly the transmogrification of this Baptist denomination into its ecclesiastical opposite has happened. Baptist folk often have...

Opinion H. Stephen Shoemaker

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Gun massacre at Baptist church leaves small Texas town — and the nation — reeling

A typical small-town Southern Baptist church in Texas became the scene of the fifth-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history Nov. 5, when a gunman interrupted Sunday morning worship with gunshots from a military-style rifle, killing at least 26 people and wounding dozens more.

I’m the descendant of a founding father and I have two black daughters — and I am racist

What am I going to do? I am going to continue my own education so that I can help to change the pervasive narrative in our country that allows white men in good conscience to keep doing exactly what they’re…

Tax overhaul bears gifts for religious conservatives, including rights for unborn

The 400-plus-page bill includes changes that would codify the rights of unborn children and allow tax-exempt religious organizations to engage in political activities.

Tennessee Baptists unfriend church with female pastor

Can a church with a female pastor be Southern Baptist? A Tennessee Baptist Convention committee says “no.”

Is there a market for a Christian cryptocurrency? Christ Coin aims to find out.

Emmanuel Ogunjumo’s empathy for the world’s spiritually and financially impoverished has inspired the creation of Christ Coin, which bills itself as the world’s first Christian cryptocurrency.

Falwell calls Liberty University the Fox News of academia. But where is he taking the school?

Jerry Falwell Jr. and the university have won their battles — from the struggle to survive to the fight for political prominence. But Falwell isn’t done fighting. The question now is where the president and university go from here.

Muslims once again are being targeted for an attack they had nothing to do with

Mosques in New Jersey are receiving terrifying voicemails, including death threats, after a driver plowed a truck into a bike path in lower Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring 12 others.

Transitions for the week of 11.03.17

Staff changes, congregational news and more from across the nation.

BJC head says tax bill would ‘deform,’ not reform, Johnson Amendment

A Baptist church-state specialist criticized the latest attempt by Republican lawmakers to weaken a part of tax law called the Johnson Amendment that prohibits tax-exempt charities including churches from taking sides in political campaigns.

‘Out of love for the truth:’ The Reformation at 500

After addressing Reformation history in sermons, print and lectures every October of my life for the last 46 years, here are a few things I’ve learned from Luther’s 95 theses.

Love thy neighbor: South Asia Christians advocate for Rohingya Muslims

Believers in Bangladesh and Pakistan are aiding a fellow persecuted minority fleeing Burma.

Confederate monuments and the power of absence

How can the public good of removing what are daily reminders for many African Americans of slavery and racism be balanced with the threat of those objects potentially expanding their reach and potency in their absence?