Baptist News Global

Nine ‘Mama Bears’ testify how anti-LGBTQ legislation is harming their families

Loving and supporting LGBTQ children does not make Christian parents bad Christians, Mama Bears founder Liz Dyer said during a roundtable presented by the Human Rights Campaign. “I like to emphasize that my faith led me to become affirming of…

Of politicians and pastors who can’t quit

Politicians and pastors may share more things in common than you would imagine, but one common trait is ego. It takes a strong ego to subject yourself to a run for public office, and it takes a strong ego to…

Sudan’s worsening conflict raises alarm of another humanitarian crisis

More than 400 people have been killed and 3,500 injured after fighting broke out between Sudanese armed forces and a paramilitary unit in Khartoum and other parts of the northeastern African country. The violence has claimed the lives of three…

What would Jane Jacobs do? Toward a new model for houses of worship

Cities need to prepare for a wave of declining houses of worship. While faith institutions, at least the Christian ones, have been asking What Would Jesus Do? municipalities need to get them to ask another question: What Would Jane Jacobs…

Brumley named chair of BNG board; Peoples new board member

A veteran Baptist communications executive has been named chair of the Baptist News Global board of directors. Larry Brumley, senior vice president for marketing communications and chief of staff at Mercer University, succeeds Chris Caldwell, professor at Simmons College of…

Struggling to believe

I’m struggling to believe. Not in God. Not in Jesus. But in the church. I’m wondering if we’ve gotten it all wrong, the songs and sermons, altar calls and Bible studies, missionaries and seminaries. You see, I’m finding little evidence…

High court hears arguments in case that could redefine employers’ required religious accommodation

It appears the United States Supreme Court could look for common ground in ruling on a major religious liberty case heard by the high court last week, according to two Baptist authorities on the subject. Amanda Tyler, executive director of…

‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife’ and other posters I do not want in a first grade classroom.

Editor’s note: This is the first opinion piece in a new series on religious liberty authored by BJC Fellows and made possible by a grant from the Prichard Family Foundation. Picture yourself in a first grade classroom, one with…

Tennessee Baptists and Methodists join in call for gun legislation

As the Southern Baptist Speaker of the House in Tennessee continues to stall attempts to address gun violence, some Southern Baptist leaders and United Methodist leaders in the state are calling for more to be done. Speaker of the House…

A baptism that redeemed us all

During my lifetime, I’ve witnessed the baptisms of about a thousand people — mostly children and teens, few adults. While all baptisms are meaningful and contain an element of tenderness and vulnerability, there is something a bit “different” about adult…

The Christian Right continues its futile but dangerous war of reaction

For a long time, it was clear the white Christian Right in the United States was waging a war of reaction (sometimes open, sometimes clandestine) against just about every social, cultural and legal change that has taken place in our…

Patterson and Southwestern settle with Pressler’s accuser

For the second time in two weeks, Paige Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have been set free of legal action against them. Writing for the Nashville Tennessean, religion writer Liam Adams reported April 20 that both Patterson and Southwestern…

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