Baptist News Global

The plantation lived on through Texas Baptist evangelism

Recently during worship, my minister sang a song of lament he composed about the whitewashed history of violence and slavery in the United States. In “This House,” Aaron Austin sang: “They said it was history, time to move on. They…

At this conference, religious minorities told each other’s stories of persecution

Imagine the conflicts that could be ended and prevented if the world’s faith leaders got to know one another and began to advocate for those experiencing religious persecution everywhere, said Sam Brownback, the former U.S. ambassador for international religious freedom…

Make the world a better place with kindness

A lot of good advice has been broadcast these days, including frequent reminders about kindness. Most everyone feels some responsibility to be a little kinder, which is kind of ironic because since we’re having less contact with each other, how…

See America’s religious diversity in nine charts

If you’re looking for the most religiously diverse counties in America, head to New York. If you’re looking for the least religiously diverse counties in America, head to Mississippi and Alabama. That’s the top-line takeaway from the most comprehensive documentation…

Making peace with my ancestral research

My husband and I have enjoyed delving into our ancestries. At one point in the past, we visited upstate New York, where we looked at gravestones, nearly erased with acid rainfall, and at documents in the historical archives in county…

New national survey flips the narrative on mainline Protestants and the ‘nones,’ but why?

Two giant questions leaped off the page as the interpreters of American religion began reading the latest data dump from Public Religion Research Institute July 8: How could this data about mainline Protestants be correct, and why is the data…

Four common approaches to church after COVID separation

If you are re-evaluating your relationship with church, you are not alone. As we move from online worship and distanced activities to in-person church life, many decision moments come our way. This return to in-person church activities is a major…

No church wants the Moby Dick of ministers

They call me Erica. Well, no they don’t. The folks at Buechel Park Baptist Church actually call me Pastor Erica, and the more formal members refer to me as Reverend Whitaker. We’ve been on the seas of ministries together for…

18 immigration organizations unite in effort to help the undocumented get ready to stay legally

Eighteen national immigration organizations have formed a new coalition to help undocumented immigrants obtain legal services and resources needed to access residency programs that could lead to citizenship. Organizers say Ready to Stay will tap into grassroots communities, including faith-based…

The untold story of Black women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement

It seems that African American men who worked tirelessly to reverse the status of “the invisible man” (a term coined by Ralph Ellison) have found ways to keep women as invisible as possible in the leadership ranks of the church….

Transitions for the week of 7-16-21

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Amy Strader Andrews, to Cedarbridge Baptist Church, Greenville, N.C., as pastor. Linda Bergeon, to Atwater (Calif.) Baptist Church,…

Cornell West’s fiery departure from Harvard Divinity shines a light on the issue of faculty tenure

Cornell West may be the best-known Black academic and social activist in America, so his scathing resignation letter from Harvard Divinity School July 13 immediately went viral online. His departure from Harvard to Union Theological Seminary highlights a national debate…

Eradicating DEI hasn’t made anything better

How Christian nationalism shows up in patriotic worship services

Dear Trump-supporting Christians, are you really OK with this?

‘Every Student. Every State’ campaign promotes school tax credit