Baptist News Global

Racists don’t get to define racism

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…

With $1 million grant, 25 Alliance of Baptists congregations are working to understand systemic racism and overcome it

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…

This is my story: Seeking an equal seat at the table of privilege

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…

Letter to the Editor: Say it ain’t so, Al

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…

Equality Act gets a hearing, Black pastors advocate for an alternative, and new national poll shows a majority opinion

As the United States Senate held its first hearing for the proposed Equality Act March 17, a group of Black Christian leaders threw their support behind a competing piece of legislation known as the Fairness for All Act. The Equality…

On my 80th birthday, remembering what COVID has taken and acting like I might live to 100

Yesterday was my 80th birthday. Despite the unopened and flagged emails that have piled up since the Texas deep freeze in mid-February and the papers overflowing on my office desk, I gave myself the day off to reflect, remember, to…

After spiritual trauma, finding welcome in church once more

Growing up, the church always was a safe place for me. I grew up in the same small-town church my entire life, and a lot of our life revolved around the church. Sundays were filled with Sunday school and the…

Co-chairs of Baylor commission on historic representations say their research was distressing

Members of a Baylor University commission charged with recommending ways to address the institution’s historic ties to slavery and the Confederacy often were distressed as they studied the racist beliefs and actions of the university’s founders. “I would say it…

Don’t let the Atlanta shooter off the hook by claiming women drove him to addiction

On the evening of March 16, Robert Long allegedly shot and killed eight people, seven of whom were women, at three separate massage parlors in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Initial reports say he is a Christian and the son of…

Transitions for the week of 3-19-21

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Megan Turner Doud, to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia, as coordinator of young Baptist ministries. She comes from…

Terrorist group in Mozambique accused of beheading children

Islamic militants in Mozambique are committing gruesome acts of terror against children, according to Save the Children UK. The international relief agency reports that children as young as 11 have been apprehended and beheaded by militants in the Mozambique province…

To heal racism, seek atonement before reconciliation, authors say

White Christians must seek atonement before reconciliation if the wounds of racism are to be healed, two religion scholars said during a March 16 webinar on evangelicalism and race in America. “You can’t have change until you have had true…

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?