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...
“Our people know about coffin ships — boats that sink to the bottom of the sea with everyone on board.” Close your eyes and imagine the voice who said those words. Who do you a picture? An African American describing…
The right wing has long funded thought leadership related to its own political goals. Now, the think tank world is bleeding into influencing the millennial masses, packaged with entertaining 140-character tweets and curiosity-gap headlines.
He studied with an eminent Catholic philosopher but attends a progressive Episcopal parish. He has defended the religious rights not only of Christian corporations but also of Muslims and Native Americans.
We come to the Bible seeking a little relief from the drama in our lives and what do we find? A text cracking and sizzling with fear, rage, resentment and wonder. If you want an escape from the drama, the…
Controversy over the “exclusively gay moment” in the live-action musical remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast offers a glimpse of what many gay people experience growing up in church, leaders of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists commented…
The black experience in America is already “Lent.” When your culture is built on the idea of denial and forfeiture, a once-a-year exercise of giving up soda or chocolate loses its spiritual weight.
Leaders of faith communities involved in what is called “the sanctuary movement” say there are moral and faith issues that sometimes trump the legal and political issues.
“But, Lord,” protested Pious Paul of Ryan, “when did I see you hungry or thirsty or sick and refuse to help you? I drop your name everywhere. And I’m pro-life!”
Churches may want to take a hard look at what they’re offering young, single adults — and then boost it. “Many churches are built around a family model,” Roxanne Stone, editor and chief of the Barna Group, said in remarks published…
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Taylor Bell, to Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham, Ala., as ministries coordinator. Troy Freeman, to First Baptist…
A lawsuit filed recently in Oklahoma claims negligence by a Southern Baptist state convention in the violent rape last summer of a 13-year girl attending a church camp. The lawsuit, filed March 8 in the district court of Oklahoma County,…
The eclipse will be an important moment for scientific observers and a massive spectator event. It will also, for many people of faith, be evidence of God’s majesty — and even, to a few, a harbinger of the end of…
