“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...
Beck Taylor has been named the 19th president of Samford University and will succeed Andrew Westmoreland, who is retiring after 15 years at the helm. Samford trustees elected Taylor March 10 upon the recommendation of a 23-member presidential search committee…
Outside my window, green shoots peek from the ground that was frozen just a couple of weeks ago. Warm air greets me like an old friend, and tree buds are biding their time until they explode open in pops of…
Baylor University will create an endowed faculty position for the study of Black worship, with a gift from the Prichard Family Foundation and Ella Wall Prichard of Corpus Christi, Texas. The new Lev H. Prichard III Chair in the Study…
Embracing and implementing intuitive and redemptive approaches to ministry is the goal of an ecumenical and national study that has tracked the faith and professional development of 50 ministers for a decade. Eileen Campbell-Reed and Christian Scharen, co-directors of the…
When my daughters were playing a ton of soccer, we noticed something interesting: They and their teammates apologized a lot. They apologized to their own teammates after making an errant pass, they apologized to the opposing player after a physical play,…
Two days after I learned that the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee formally voted to remove St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., from denominational membership, my chest began to hurt. Right in my sternum, there was pain I can…
A look behind the scenes at how the faith community helped navigate passage of Virginia’s historic repeal of the death penalty will be the topic of Baptist News Global’s next free webinar. The March 29 webinar will feature a discussion…
I served as a pastor for 33 years and then worked nearly six years as a counselor at the most high-profile maximum-security prison in Texas. There, I ran the mental health department, nestled in the prison infirmary, which serves all…
I have begun to suspect that some of what I read is not even true. I tell myself that I am checking the news, but it is not always new or important. I read news that is not quite news…
For 25 years, a Baptist congregation in Brooklyn, N.Y., staged a theatrical production exposing the trans-Atlantic slave trade in all-too tragic and graphic detail. When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the annual production of “The MAAFA: A Healing Journey,” St. Paul…
Beth Moore’s recent defection from the Southern Baptist Convention has been a long time coming. Moore built her career modeling Southern Baptist, submissive womanhood, but her public witness has challenged the gender roles that she, until very recently, defended. Moore’s…
There are few things in life one can guarantee. Nevertheless, here’s one for which I’m very close to issuing written guarantees. When your aspiration is to shrink your church, there’s one strategy that stands head and shoulders above all others….
