Baptist News Global

Be a church that invests

By Bill Webb The strongest and most effective churches give a lot of attention to investing. They have a biblical mandate for doing so. One such passage is in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19-21: Do not store…

Clashing visions of marriage

By David Gushee On Saturday morning, June 5, 2010, I read that Al and Tipper Gore are separating after 40 years of marriage. On Saturday afternoon, I stood at the front of the First United Methodist Church in Jackson, Tennessee,…

Conn. school board won’t appeal ban on graduations in church building

ENFIELD, Conn. (ABP) — A Connecticut school board has decided not to appeal a federal judge's ruling that holding high-school graduation ceremonies at a local church is unconstitutional. The Enfield Board of Education voted 5-4 on June 3 to reverse…

FAITH DIGEST

Judge allows clergy housing tax case to proceed. A federal judge has rejected a motion filed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to dismiss a California lawsuit that challenges tax breaks ministers can receive on housing. Section 107 of…

Seasons: Death in a minister’s family means transitions in ministry, identity

LUBBOCK, Texas (ABP) — The death of a minister — or the minister’s spouse — marks a difficult phase in the life of both the church and the pastor’s family. Wil Tanner, pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas,…

Seasons: church and founding pastor either grow together or somebody moves on

(ABP) — Whether the founding pastor of a church matures with the congregation or moves on once the new work is well established depends on a host of factors, according to three church-growth and church-planting experts. And either the initial…

Seasons: Churches adapt to change by planting multiple campuses

LIBERTY, Mo. (ABP) — A couple of years ago, ministry leaders at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., began to notice how many members were driving from an area near Kansas City International Airport, a nearly 30-minute drive. Megan…

Congregation radically adapts model from cowboy to skater outreach

{youtube}keeApO4VdA4{/youtube} WAXAHACHIE, Texas (ABP) — It wasn’t too long ago that Brandon Jones was watching men gallop by on horseback with lassos twirling over their heads. Now, he watches as teenagers whir by on their skateboards, building up speed for…

Seasons: Student ministers face challenges as age separates them from youth

(ABP) — Age can influence the career direction a youth minister or campus minister takes. Family transitions may lead to a ministry change, or the minister may feel age has separated him or her from students. “There may be a…

Alliance of Baptists supports ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal

DURHAM, N.C. (ABP) — A progressive Baptist group that endorses military chaplains is supporting repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military. Chris Copeland While a number of conservative Christian groups…

Being Baptist — in the best sense of the word

By Amy Butler I work right around the corner from The Gallup Organization’s headquarters here in Washington, so I’ll just say up front that the informal poll I recently took on Facebook should not be considered strictly scientific. That being…

Student ministers face challenges as age separates them from youth

Age can influence the career direction a youth minister or campus minister takes. Family transitions may lead to a ministry change, or the minister may feel age has separated him or her from students. “There may be a time when…

Paxton dodges ethics questions while claiming Talarico isn’t Christian

Restored Voices Collective gets GRACE report on former board member

‘CatsOnACouch’ influencer sues over First Amendment rights

Court finds Trump and Blanche conspired to create sham IRS lawsuit