Baptist News Global

Supporting the influx of Afghan refugees is bringing divided Americans together

American religious groups, civic associations, businesses and even neighborhoods are enthusiastically responding to pleas to aid tens of thousands of Afghan refugees in need of rapid resettlement across the nation. Officials who oversee refugee resettlement agencies and the leaders of…

A chat with Mickey at Bubba-Doo’s about whether I preach the gospel or not

I stop in occasionally at a store called Bubba-Doo’s. It’s about 10 miles outside the interstate on the main highway that rolls through a series of towns. They are supposedly “world famous” for their hamburgers, according to the big sign…

As Boys Scouts of America bankruptcy plan proceeds, UMC urges its congregations to consider their legal liability

Should churches that charter Boy Scouts of America packs or troops continue their affiliation with the organization in light of its current bankruptcy proceedings? The answer for United Methodist congregations is “no,” according to an announcement from UMC officials. This…

Reading good literature can develop skills in empathy and compassion, professor says

Reading literature can help Christians develop the Christ-like empathy needed to bring more compassion and healing to a divided world, according to author and scholar Karen Swallow Prior. The Southern Baptist seminary professor spoke during a Sept. 1 webinar examining…

Transitions for the week of 9-3-21

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Timothy Tee Boddie, to National Conference of Black Churches, as project executive. Marc Boswell, to St. Charles Avenue…

Clergy, social workers, counselors fear they could be targeted by new Texas abortion law, which Supreme Court lets stand for now

After initially remaining silent as a highly restrictive new abortion law went into effect in Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a late-night ruling, 5-4, Sept. 1 letting the controversial law stand — for now. Had Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg…

‘The meanness of this moment’ in America (and its churches)

Recently, a friend asked, “Has American culture gone completely mad?” Today, I’d add to that troubling question this troubled response: “It’s not just that American culture has gone mad, it’s also gone mean. Meanness, to quote a Bette Midler song,…

Negative emotions increased worldwide in 2020, and not just because of COVID

New research shows that 2020 gave much of the world’s population a whole lot more to frown about, and not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Gallup “Global Emotions” survey, which tracks negative and positive experiences, reports that…

Baptist Press, Fox News and America’s departure from reality

Two weeks have lapsed since Hannah Kate Williams filed a sweeping lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, two other SBC entities and eight individuals affiliated with the SBC — but the SBC’s news service, Baptist Press, has yet…

LA County and state of California pay settlement to pastor and church who denied reality of the pandemic

John MacArthur’s defiance of California’s public health restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 has netted the church $800,000 — not because MacArthur told the truth about the pandemic but because the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that California couldn’t…

Rachel Held Evans started the story, Matthew Paul Turner picked it up, and the result is hope for children of all ages

Parents often are asked more than once this age-old question “What is God like?” Matthew Paul Turner and the late Rachel Held Evans attempt to answer that question for parents and children in a new children’s book, What is God…

Let’s demonize racism, not Critical Race Theory

Since the former president unwillingly departed the office, his Republican minions have leaned into the ardent racist dog whistles and racial mythologies he employed in trying unsuccessfully to remain in power. Big among these Republican racial tropes is the idea…

Nobody dislikes Southern Baptists more than Al Mohler

Trump EEOC claims more religious discrimination on vaccine mandates

What I wish Christians knew about Sharia Law

On telling a brother he is going to hell