“They stole $77,000. And that was all of my savings.” Her voice was so soft I (Doug) had to lean in to hear her. “I’ve talked with the local police, the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. The money is...
In my book Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity, I suggested this as something that “ordinary Christians” can do locally to further the visible unity of the church: “If your own denomination has been in…official…
By Bob Allen Rick Bennett, director of missional congregations for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship since 2004, is leaving the Atlanta-based CBF to become pastor of First Baptist Church in Elkin, N.C. Elected in a called business meeting July 22, Bennett’s…
By Molly T. Marshall I grew up in a church which shared a block with a small synagogue. Our town did not have a rabbi, so these families depended upon Jewish clergy from a larger city nearby to provide leadership…
By Bob Allen After nearly 200 years and 34 pastors, First Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo., has called its first woman pastor. The prominent congregation jointly aligned with American Baptist Churches USA, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of…
By Amber Cassady From his hospital bed, one of the 58 people injured in a July 20 shooting rampage in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater that claimed 12 lives has become a spokesman for Christian forgiveness. Pierce O’Farrill, a member…
Alan Roxburgh’s recent book, “Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood,” lead me to a different sort of reading of a recent Sunday Gospel lesson from Mark 6:1-13. Jesus goes into his own home town with his disciples, teaches in the…
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter says the disproportionate number of African-Americans who are incarcerated is a remaining vestige of racism in the United States. “When the black Baptist leaders speak out and say what do Baptists need to…
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter says the disproportionate number of African-Americans who are incarcerated is a remaining vestige of racism in the United States. “When the black Baptist leaders speak out and say what do Baptists need to…
