Baptist News Global

More churches plan reopenings cautiously, joyfully and with flexibility

New CDC guidelines and a growing number of church members being vaccinated are suddenly opening new possibilities for churches that have been closed to in-person gatherings for 14 months. “The arrival and availability of the vaccine has been a welcomed…

Remembering Robin Williams and wishing we could talk openly about suicide

This week, Robin Williams was trending on Twitter. He died by suicide in August 2014, five months after my late husband died the same way. Side note: When someone takes their own life, the correct verbiage is to say they…

Now there appear to be three paths for once-united Methodists

For more than half a century, leaders of The United Methodist Church have seen the denomination as a “big tent,” a place where different theological and ecclesiastical identities could co-exist and perhaps even co-mingle as a single entity. Now that…

Pastor puts entrepreneurial skills to work this time to get people vaccinated

Dallas pastor Richie Butler has blazed a trail through the worlds of real estate and ministry in Texas and nationwide, developing more than $500 million in urban properties, leading iconic Black churches and launching initiatives to combat racism and deliver…

Saddleback, women’s ordination and Jezebels: An open letter to Al Mohler

Dear Al, May I call you Al? We both have doctorates, so I would prefer we forgo honorifics; you can just call me Jonathan. I’m not sure we’ve met, although I’ve known you from a distance for years. I doubt…

CBF’s new disaster response coordinator brings diversity of experiences to the job

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s new domestic disaster response manager sees a direct correlation between helping communities recover from catastrophes and helping society recover from systemic injustice. Both missions require clergy, church leaders and congregations to build relationships that transform strangers…

Reflecting on a Baylor commencement 60 years later

“Oh, what a beautiful morning.” Those words obviously were made famous in the song by that title in the Broadway Musical Oklahoma!, which is my home state. I gladly loaned them to Texas on the morning of May 6 and…

Why the use of masculine God language matters at church

Throughout the English Bible, the normal pronouns assigned to God are “he” and “him.” Many references to God within church practice typically fit into this same assignment. However, when we look at the instances in the Bible where imagery for…

Fox News anchor gives voice to 16 women in the Bible

Fox News anchor Shannon Bream’s favorite portion of her book about women in the Bible is retelling the story of the “unclean” woman found in Mark 5:21. “We’re told that she comes before (Jesus) trembling and in fear falls down…

Ethics at the end of life: How medicine and technology have changed the context of dying

As the school year ends and I try to process the many agonies of the annus horribilus COVID year of 2020-21, I will remember many deaths, but most especially the death of my father in late December 2020. These posts,…

Largest church in SBC ordains three women as pastors

The largest church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention ordained three women as ministers May 6, sending shock waves through the male-centric leadership of the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination. Saddleback Church, founded by Pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay,…

Bush calls for religious revival to help all Christians welcome immigrants

Healing the divisiveness of immigration in American politics and society requires a view of immigrants as vital cultural and economic contributors and as fellow human beings made in God’s image, former President George W. Bush said during a May 6…

The wicked are punished — or not

What Ryan Burge sees in America’s megachurches

We are a nation of immigrants

As worldwide deaths mount, Musk insists DOGE cuts didn’t kill anyone