Baptist News Global

Leland Center names Pruitt president

The John Leland Center for Theological Studies has named Kenneth R. Pruitt as president. Pruitt comes to the role from the pastorate of King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Va. He has been an officer on the school’s board…

Another dispute over SBC’s mishandling of sexual abuse claims breaks out on Twitter, including release of another recorded conversation

The Southern Baptist Convention’s reckoning with abuse continued unfolding in the public eye this week with multiple fiery Twitter exchanges and leaked audio of a confrontation between two male pastors and a female abuse survivor. The kerfuffle began the night…

Seeking the blessing of those who welcome us to the land

Edith and I travel a lot and have done so for years. We spent four years where we just traveled around from reservation to reservation across the United States and Canada and mentored a number of people. We also did…

A new scholarship for students who advocate care and justice for LGBTQ persons garnered the most support on Baylor Giving Day

While Baylor University regents and administrators continue to walk a tightrope over LGBTQ inclusion, rank-and-file donors made their voices heard on the university’s annual Baylor Giving Day March 16. The event’s leaderboard shows the new Paul Eddie Dwyer Endowed Scholarship…

On this date 85 years ago, the worst school tragedy in American history occurred

On Thursday afternoon, March 18, 1937, in the Texas oil boom town of New London, 694 students and 40 teachers awaited the dismissal bell and the start of a special three-day weekend. Then at 3:17 p.m., just 13 minutes before…

The Civil Rights leader nobody knows on his 100th birthday

On March 18, 2022, Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the least known but most impactful figures in the Civil Rights movement, would have celebrated his 100th birthday. Unless you are a historian of that movement or one of my friends, you probably…

‘The city is wiped off the face of the earth’

“The city is simply wiped off the face of the earth. It is completely destroyed. There is no electricity, all the wires are on the ground. There is no gas, as the gas pipeline is blown up. We have a…

As a pastor serves bread to the elderly in Ukraine, he prays to retain his humanity

As Ukrainian theologian and pastor Fyodor Raychynets serves bread to the elderly imprisoned in bomb shelters, his prayer is to retain his humanity. “I have to remind myself on a daily basis that we are humans and we are —…

Half of U.S. congregations led by solo pastor but that’s not what most churchgoers experience

The iconic Americana image of a solo pastor faithfully tending the flock of a local congregation remains a reality for more than half of U.S. congregations, but that is not the reality most American churchgoers experience. Combined with the report…

Another major study confirms: Most American congregations are small, but most churchgoers attend large congregations

One of the largest ongoing studies of communities of faith in the United States has confirmed a key finding reported by other researchers: The vast majority of American congregations are small, but the vast majority of American worshipers attend larger…

What could the church learn from Amazon?

In 1994, Jeff Bezos left a lucrative job as an investment banker on Wall Street to start a company selling books on a new technology called the internet. Two years later, I left a non-lucrative career in ministry and entered…

Transitions for the week of 3-18-22

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Danny Back, to First Baptist Church, Hillsville, Va., as youth and worship leader. He comes from RiverRock Church,…

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