Baptist News Global

Opponents file suit to stop unprecedented Catholic charter school in Oklahoma

Parents, pastors and defenders of public education filed suit against state education officials in Oklahoma District Court July 31, seeking to reverse approval of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School as the nation’s first religious charter school. Plaintiffs want…

Virginia governor chided for saying immigrants bring drugs to his state

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s claim that deploying National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border helps protect the nation from criminals and illegal drugs is a ploy to villainize immigrants, rights advocates said during a recent livestreamed press conference. “It is…

White reflections on racism: An interview with Frederick Allen

I sometimes tell the story about how back during the pandemic, at the height of the Black Lives Matter marches, my friend Kelly Brown Douglas schooled me on racial reconciliation. That’s the sort of thing she does. Until then, I…

NAMB wants to exclude damning testimony from upcoming trial

The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board wants to exclude from evidence in an upcoming trial the testimony of eight witnesses along with a controversial amicus brief that portrayed the SBC as a connectional hierarchy. The July 28 motions…

A theology of ‘girl dinner’

Have you ever eaten “girl dinner” before? Chances are, you have, even if you are a boy. But according to TikTok, where the #GirlDinner trend originated, the meal is less about gender and more about how the food on a…

Rick Warren wants to talk about the Great Commission

Rick Warren thought he was going to be late for our appointment, but with good reason. The best-known pastor in America had been to the grocery store. He knows most of the workers there by name, but this checker was…

Memphis church will host NOH8 photo shoot this weekend

First Baptist Church of Memphis, Tenn., will host a combination photo shoot and anti-hate protest July 30 to publicly affirm its commitment to LGBTQ people. “This has been such a hard year for the LBGTQ community. The political arena has…

The Medieval Crusades, Billy Graham and American evangelicals

My earliest encounter with the term “religious crusade” probably goes back to junior high history. Still, I don’t remember the term being used much other than when Billy Graham came to town. He went from city to city, holding “crusades.”…

Why the patriarchy is hyperventilating over Barbie

I wasn’t allowed to watch Toy Story 2 when I was 21 years old because the trailer depicted a group of Barbies in bikinis led by Tour Guide Barbie. So when I found out some influential conservatives were having a conniption fit…

Why it’s not enough to make an exception for intersex people amid your exclusion of trans people

Intersex people always have lived among us, but shame and societal expectations have kept them living largely in the shadows. The June 30 nationwide release of the documentary Every Body, available in theaters and for streaming, is just the latest…

The voice of Sinead O’Connor

It was announced July 26 that Sinead O’Connor has died. An artist who journeyed in her own faith, struggles and personal growth right alongside us. Her 1990 album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was the first CD…

New York Theological Seminary awards master’s degrees to nine female inmates

The first graduates of a new seminary program for incarcerated women in New York are modern-day examples of some of the greatest servant-leaders in Scripture, a state legislator said. “There are so many stories of amazing, courageous and inspiring women…

Supreme Court slides into partisanship

Before the fireworks, be careful what you drink

The contemptible case of Clarence Thomas

The permanent paradoxes of Christian thinking about war