Baptist News Global

When Christianity becomes toxic ‘Christianism’

Many people appear baffled about the hard-right turn in U.S. conservative religion. It’s not just a turn to politics, or to hard-right politics, that is problematic. It is the apparent amorality, the cruelty, bigotry and snarling spirit that is so…

It’s still ‘Christians only’ at this Tennessee Methodist adoption agency

A Methodist foster care and adoption agency that receives government funding may continue to serve “Christians only” because the Jewish couple who challenged the agency were found by a Tennessee court not to have legal standing. The religious discrimination at…

When a friend went to prison for murder, the words of Jesus took on new meaning

The jokes about what is not taught in seminary usually write themselves. How often during the past few years have you heard wisecracks about having not learned Zoom, YouTube or how to edit worship videos on iMovie? Or the jokes…

War in Ukraine transforms churches into centers of care

More than 150 days of war in Ukraine have transformed Baptist congregations into much more than houses of worship. “Baptists have become centers for food, shelter, electricity and water. Equally importantly, Baptist churches are centers of respite and psycho-social care,…

Distinguished preaching professor says he was fired from Southwestern Seminary; administrators say he quit

A Southwestern Seminary professor who shared a platform with disgraced former seminary President Paige Patterson this spring either has been fired or has resigned, depending on who’s telling the story. David Allen, who served 18 years as distinguished professor of…

What should we think of celebrities for Jesus?

When I accepted Jesus into my heart in 1998, in response to a gospel message at a youth rally at a local church, I had no idea what that event meant or the history it ushered me into. I just…

As frustration and misinformation mount, United Methodist Church’s reputation takes a beating

The ongoing break-up of The United Methodist Church escalated in mid-July to a public legal feud that appears further to damage the troubled denomination’s reputation. The latest episode erupted July 14 when 106 local congregations, most located in rural areas…

Dealing with the truth: An interview with Sarah Churchwell on Gone with the Wind, the Lost Cause and Donald Trump

Those of you who read this column are aware that I study culture, religion and political life to explore the myths by which Americans shape their lives, and that I’m particularly focused on questions of race and injustice. Knowing that,…

Want to lower grocery prices? Urge Senate to pass Farm Workforce Modernization Act, panelists say

Those who think immigrants are stealing American jobs not only are wrong but are imperiling the American economy with their unsubstantiated views, a panel of agricultural leaders said July 27. “Each year, we see the end of generational farms because…

Transitions for the week of 7-29-22

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Christopher Adams, concluding his tenure as pastoral assistant at Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas. He has been…

The fantastical world of the New (evangelical) Zealots

Evangelicals are the New Zealots, and that spells danger for democracy and for the planet. The danger lies in the fantastical world created by evangelicals. The danger becomes personal in the symbol of guns and precarious in their climate denial….

No, BJC has not become a leftist mouthpiece

Last week I heard someone suggest that Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has moved to the left politically and abandoned its historic Baptist tradition. There’s an agricultural word to describe the fallacy of that argument, but I won’t use…

Rise of American authoritarianism demands a choice, Perryman says

Shaving Dad goodbye

The Enhanced Games were another MAGA grift

It’s bad interpretation, not the Bible, limiting female pastors