“They stole $77,000. And that was all of my savings.” Her voice was so soft I (Doug) had to lean in to hear her. “I’ve talked with the local police, the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. The money is...
When plans to return to their church building for Advent were canceled by the ongoing pandemic, the congregation of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church turned their attention from inward to outward and ultimately declared Jubilee. Beginning in mid-March, the Little Rock,…
In case you didn’t notice, women had a very bad week. In Georgia, a Southern Baptist man shot and killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent, because he wanted to eliminate temptation because of his sex…
A constellation of stars has been assembled to help guide Middle Collegiate Church in New York City from the ashes of its historic building destroyed by fire Dec. 5. Located in the city’s iconic East Village, the congregation claims numerous…
As a cisgendered heterosexual male, my own sexuality was not a problem in the Southern Baptist faith of my youth and young adulthood. Having come of age with the Moral Majority, though, I cannot remember a time when the question…
A vote is “a kind of prayer,” Baptist pastor Raphael Warnock said in his first speech on the Senate floor as a newly elected legislator. The March 17 speech was a blistering call to protect voting rights and a critique…
Lent isn’t over just yet, and we could do with a bit more reflection and repentance as a church and a nation. But spring is arriving. I can see it dawning over the horizon, pinkish yellow as it seeps into…
For decades, progressive white Baptists have opened leadership roles at the highest level to women and people of color. But Black Baptists have shown a greater willingness to affiliate with the conservative Southern Baptist Convention than with more moderate groups…
New research into the impact of online church programming suggests that virtual prayer gatherings may boost participation and fellowship for Christians active or inactive in congregational life. Online corporate prayer opportunities, when offered, have been found to be especially effective…
Last week in Norman, Okla., where I serve as a pastor, our high school girls basketball team was playing in the state championship tournament. During the National Anthem, the team took a knee. The announcer, believing his microphone was turned…
Twenty-five churches associated with the Alliance of Baptists are participating in a five-year national scholarly study of how to expose and address systemic racism in their local contexts. The “Churches that THRIVE for Racial Justice” initiative is funded by a…
In the summer of 2014, I served as a hospital chaplain placed at an 1,800-bed adult trauma level one and pediatric level three hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. I was the only African American full-time chaplain at this hospital, and…
Read our latest Letter to the Editor from John Dye of Louisville, Ky., about the Southern Baptist Convention’s expulsion of his church. He writes: “I have been a Baptist for over 50 years, but I finally got the ax at…
