Baptist News Global

What we missed most about in-person church, what’s coming back and what’s likely to change

Taking Communion, socializing and experiencing live sermons were the top features of in-person worship missed by churchgoers during the coronavirus outbreak, new research shows. The aspects missed the least — partly because they were more easily provided online — included…

To live into Easter, we need to keep writing a new song

Easter is here. But before we move too far into this season of hope, we need to pause and remember how Jesus died. Jesus was not the first person of color to be murdered by the authorities; his death was…

How to find resilience for the long run of COVID, as we’re ‘almost there, but not quite yet’

Rochelle Walensky, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed more than a statistical update during a briefing last Monday, sharing her concern about the uptick of new coronavirus cases even as more than 2 million Americans are…

If you want to help the poor, first understand their humanity

Humanizing the poor and hungry is a vital first step for individuals and churches called to combat poverty and hunger, a group of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ministers and lay leaders learned during a recent webinar hosted by CBF Heartland. “It’s…

Second Easter during pandemic brings greater sense of hope nationwide

Easter 2021 was filled with tears for many Christian worshipers across America, but this year they often were tears of joy as congregations met in-person for the first time in a year. Even if those services were held outdoors, they…

George Floyd’s murder: Knowing what cannot be unseen

Like you, I have read and heard many comments from people who viewed the video footage of the death of George Perry Floyd on May 25, 2020, at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago in Minneapolis. The painful video…

The habits of churches that need resurrection

In the 13th century, the Muslim poet Rumi had an interesting way of describing our need for resurrection: “The mystics are gathering in the street. Come out!” “Leave me alone. I’m sick.” “I don’t care if you’re dead! Jesus is…

Consider the trees: A Holy Week reflection on looking up

I sat on my front porch as the cool morning breeze gently lifted the leaves from the grasp of the trees and carried them to their death. Winter was coming. Seasons would change, and new life would be born again…

In Tigray, Ethiopia, six months of pain, suffering and disaster

The situation in Ethiopia, East Africa’s most populous country, is getting desperate by the day. Nearly six months after fighting broke out between the country’s government forces and Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the ruling party in the northern Ethiopian region…

Baylor, Baptists and slavery: A way forward

Last week Baylor University, the world’s largest historically Baptist university, released a study revealing the slaveholding and Confederacy elements of its history. The report, commissioned by the Baylor board of regents, considered the stories of Baylor’s founders and those memorialized…

Ryan Burge sifts the data to paint an evolving portrait of the ‘nones’

There was a time, not all that long ago, when no minister, denominational leader or seminary administrator ever heard of — or worried about — a “none.” That’s partly because there wasn’t yet a name for religiously unaffiliated Americans, partly…

Admitting our part in ‘Good’ Friday

Most of my adult life, I have questioned the notion of “Good Friday.” How can the day on which the Son of God was murdered be called “good”? I never would call Sept. 30, the day my father died suddenly…

Paxton dodges ethics questions while claiming Talarico isn’t Christian

Restored Voices Collective gets GRACE report on former board member

‘CatsOnACouch’ influencer sues over First Amendment rights

Court finds Trump and Blanche conspired to create sham IRS lawsuit