It is midnight. Not the kind of midnight measured by clocks. The kind that settles into your bones. The kind that lingers long after the sun has risen. We all know this midnight. It is the midnight of the marriage...
There’s a “big box” church in our town that’s all the rage. If you live anywhere in America that’s even slightly urban, there’s probably a big box church in your area as well. By “big box” I mean the kind…
Last week I spoke to a group of associate pastors at a continuing education program with the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey. This group of associates was very diverse demographically, but they all shared the same challenges. I started…
Thirty years ago this fall the editor and associate editor of the Religious Herald, Julian H. Pentecost and Tom Miller, respectively, invited this soon-to-be-columnist to lunch. They presented a proposition that their lunch guest begin to write a Baptist history…
A young pastor was recently recounting the events that led to his dismissal. Throughout the painful ordeal, he had relied upon a small group of spiritually-mature trusted advisors to help him navigate the uncertainties he faced. As events unfolded, he…
David Brooks’s recent New York Times op-ed column on Google’s “ngram” analysis revealed a stunning surge of individualism reflected in our language and literature in recent years. Another element revealed by analysis of words trending upward is what Brooks calls…
Some of the very best stories are the true ones. Here are two memoirs and one collection of heroic figures that would be worthy of your time. Booked, by Karen Swallow Prior (T.S. Poetry Press) Prior is an English…
By Jeff Brumley Retired maintenance worker Bill Allison of Puxico, Mo., was diagnosed with stage-four leukemia just over two years ago and, being in his 60s, was told his chances of finding a bone marrow donor were slim at best….
By Jeff Huett Latha Bandela, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field worker for more than 17 years until 2011, has died at the age of 66. She suffered a brain aneurysm and passed away Friday at an Atlanta-area hospital. In 1994,…
By Aimee Yeager Be independent. Go after your career. Don’t get married before 30. If you do marry, don’t let him think you want to be pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen. Fight for non-sexist language to describe humanity and…
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention agency that provides insurance for denominational employees filed a lawsuit Oct. 11 claiming the Affordable Care Act violates the religious liberty of faith-based organizations that do not meet the government’s narrow definition of…
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention agency that provides insurance for denominational employees filed a lawsuit Oct. 11 claiming the Affordable Care Act violates the religious liberty of faith-based organizations that do not meet the government’s narrow definition of…
