Baptist News Global

‘Illumination Project’ seeks unity amid diversity in CBF

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Governing Board adopted a process June 21 to guide the 1,800-church Fellowship through controversy amid renewed attention to the organization’s 16-year-old policy against hiring LGBTQ people since the June 15 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in…

Some non-parents are happier than parents — and the gap is bigger in America

American parents are less happy than their childless counterparts. And the parenthood “happiness gap” is greater in the United States than in 21 other countries studied.

Who are we after the Baptist wars?

Our church’s recent quarterly business meeting seemed routine enough (if there is such a thing as a routine business meeting). But very quietly, something historic occurred that evening. In our congregational vote to grant membership letters to those who had…

Work begins to try to save one of Christianity’s holiest shrine: Jesus’ tomb

Work has begun to save one of the holiest shrine in Christendom. It won’t be a simple patch-and-paint job. They are going to repair Jesus’ tomb — with titanium bolts.

Southern Baptist editor says Ali was no hero

A Southern Baptist newspaper editor said an editorial June 21 that he takes offense when he hears people describe boxing legend Muhammad Ali as an American hero. “Ali, who died recently, did some good things during his lifetime and he…

The ‘groaning’ and ‘growing’ of theological education in America

When Daniel Aleshire, whose organization accredits most U.S. seminaries, retires next year, he’ll have witnessed a quarter century of what may have been the most dramatic changes in clergy education in the country’s history. Informed ministry is superior to ignorant…

CBF launches task force on clergy sexual misconduct

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Governing Board approved a task force on clergy sexual misconduct June 21 in a final meeting prior to this week’s CBF General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C. The CBF will collaborate with Baptist Women in Ministry in…

Southern Baptists named to Trump advisory team

The Donald Trump campaign tapped two former Southern Baptist Convention presidents, a former agency head and a Dallas pastor who has prayed at several of his campaign events for a new executive board to advise the presumptive Republican nominee on…

Why the moment of silence has suddenly become very political

It could be the beginning of the end for one of the most oft-used expressions of humanity in American politics — the moment of silence for those who have died.

Harvard scholar admits ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ is likely a forgery

If “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” sounds a bit like something out of a Dan Brown novel or an episode of “The X-Files,” that’s because, as the Harvard scholar who introduced it to the world now admits, it likely is…

Speaking to the power of the queer experience to communicate the gospel

Perhaps the most gut-wrenching stage in the sadly predictable grief cycle following atrocities such as the one in Orlando just over a week ago, where a gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub killing 49 and wounding 50+ more, is…

Why churches and Christian nonprofits need entrepreneurs

Read any current text on leadership and you will encounter the urgency of entrepreneurial thinking. As we move into a progressively unpredictable atmosphere, traditional incremental approaches are not cutting it. Ian C. MacMillan, director of Wharton’s Sol. C. Snider Entrepreneurial…

Theologizing with Larkin Poe, 10 years after Reskinned

Ministry leader with tall tales wins GOP bid for Colorado governor

What Willy Rice once knew

What I learned July 5 at church