Baptist News Global

Free webinars address five hot-button issues for churches in a post-pandemic world

A new webinar series aims to provide ministers with tools to nurture resilience in the face of congregational challenges such as political toxicity, declining attendance and financial pressures, said Matt Cook, assistant director of the Center for Healthy Churches. “The…

With Idriss Déby gone, can Chad military win the war against terrorists and earn the trust of the people?

In the past couple of weeks since the passing of Chadian leader Idriss Déby, the country has become a subject of local and international discourse unlike anything people remember of the West African nation in recent decades. The discussions center…

What will become of Sunday school?

A decade ago, while on a sabbatical research project, I visited 15 churches of various denominations across the United States that bore only one common trait — they were in some way “traditional” churches. Even among that group, one of…

Apartheid in Palestine and a Christ who stands on the other side of the wall

Today, the Holy Land burns. The latest round of evictions of Palestinians from their homes in favor of the illegal Israeli settlement of the Occupied Territories predictably has led to violence which has, equally predictably, spiraled into death and destruction…

Letter to the Editor: Vigilance needed on voting integrity

Read our latest Letter to the Editor from Kirby D. Smith of Chesterfield, Va., who writes in response to Stephen Reeves’ column on “Voting Rights and the Ninth Commandment.”

White evangelical leaders who repress women are revered as saints, author says

White evangelical leaders are revered as modern-day saints by followers supportive of efforts to suppress the voice and visibility of women in the church, Beth Allison Barr said during a May 11 webinar hosted by Baptist News Global. That constellation…

For Zimbabwe’s Christian LGBTQ refugees, Montreal city is a sanctuary

In Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, Tyron*, 27, recites “Bonjour” five times. They are refining their French. France and the U.S. are not on their mind. “I switched two (Christian) mission schools in 10 years,” Tyron said. “I feared to…

What does history teach us about Saddleback Church and the SBC?

The prominent Southern Baptist (or maybe soon-to-be-former Southern Baptist) congregation Saddleback Church touched off a firestorm last weekend by publicly ordaining three women as pastors. While it’s unclear exactly how the Southern Baptist Convention will react, it’s going to be…

Naming and un-naming: Slavery, schools and the present moment

Wake Forest College was founded by North Carolina Baptists in the town of Wake Forest in 1834. The Reverend Samuel Wait, the school’s first president, was a slaveholder, as were his three successors, including the Reverend Washington Manly Wingate, the…

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…

Trump’s war on ‘woke’ targets federal grants and foreign relations

Reflections on In the Twilight of the Christian West

Why rural families need support now

Why do we keep sounding the alarm?