Baptist News Global

Intrigue visits a booth at BubbaDoo’s

Isn’t it funny how the best comedy and the most intriguing fiction usually write themselves? The more I visit the old general store, the more fascinating I find the people-watching there to be. That’s because I’m getting to know the…

Traditionalist United Methodists’ offer to pay for vaccination of African delegates is not the shot in the arm they thought it would be

United Methodist politics erupted in a public confrontation this week as three international bishops and a dozen other church leaders denounced a traditionalist group’s offer to provide coronavirus immunizations for General Conference delegates from countries with limited vaccine access. The…

The meaning of Jesus in these odd times

I recently received an email from Alfonso Armada, playwright, author and journalist, who lives in Madrid, Spain. Candyce and I invited him to Wake Forest University several years ago where he gave a theater reading and spoke of international affairs…

On one-year anniversary of Biden’s inauguration, immigration advocates offer both praise and frustration

President Joe Biden needn’t look far for praise, criticism and advice for his handling of the immigration issue on the one-year mark of his inauguration — a milestone immigration advocates and religious leaders are using to spur more action to…

Transitions for the week of 1-21-22

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Rosemary Allen, to Georgetown (Ky.) University, as president. She has served as interim president since October and also…

I came to America the right way and still was imprisoned for more than five months

In 2018, I was at JFK airport about to fly internationally for the first time after the grant of my refugee status in 2017. The line was very long — the definitive punishment for people who could not afford a…

Justices appear skeptical of Boston’s reasons for excluding Christian flag

The latest religious liberty case heard by the United States Supreme Court should have been settled before it got to Washington, justices said during oral arguments Jan. 18. Yet the court accepted the case and spent 90 minutes debating it…

They spoke out against the Capitol insurrection; one year later, they’re no longer pastors

Brandon Long wanted the doctrine of “redemption” to be the hill he would die on. Instead, the doctrine of evangelical loyalty to Donald Trump was his demise as a pastor. In 2018, Long and his wife experienced a divine call…

The roaring comeback of a toxic masculinity of power and victimization

Any Bible-memorizing kid still remembers Romans 3:23 — “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The guilt, branded into our consciousness, never leaves us, but there’s something nagging about the “all.” All have sinned but…

America’s conscience: Moral bankruptcy and communal decay

For if the disinherited get such a new center as patriotism, for instance — liberty within the framework of a sense of country or nation, then the aim of not being killed is swallowed up by a larger and more…

Baptist groups returning to in-person meetings with hybrid options

The Baptist World Alliance has announced its 2022 annual gathering will be convened both online and in-person after two years of virtual-only meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And BWA isn’t alone. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Alliance of Baptists…

An invitation to younger pastors

Young pastors, please pick the brains of older pastors. Because you don’t have to make every mistake in the book. We older, retired pastors in your area can help you avoid a few of the pitfalls of the ministry. We…

3 views on Donald Trump held by American Christians

US megachurches report strong rebound from pandemic

Baptists need to speak up again for religious liberty

What in hell became of heaven?