Baptist News Global

Pastors Buck and Swofford, get the biblical story of Jezebel straight!

On Jan. 22, Tom Buck, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas, equated Vice President Kamala Harris with the biblical Jezebel. It was a strategic insult designed to terrorize and imbrute Harris. He joined Steve Swofford, pastor of First…

Virginia now one vote away from ending death penalty

Religious groups campaigning to abolish the death penalty in Virginia got a glimpse of the promised land Feb. 3 when state senators approved a bill that will end capital punishment in the Commonwealth if the House follows suit on Feb….

6 ways to support your ministers through this pandemic

I run an organization that partners with churches and ministers around the United States. In that capacity, I meet with groups of clergy, take calls and emails from clergy friends, and sit in ministry network Zoom meetings. I have noticed…

Transitions for the week of 2-5-21

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Moe Bomer, to First Baptist Church, Midland, Texas, as business administrator. Mark Copeland, to First Baptist Church, Plymouth,…

6 things you should know about the COVID vaccine

New things can create anxiety and, as a result, there is false information about the COVID-19 vaccine that is attempting to take root and prevent people from receiving protection from what we know is a deadly disease. Writing as a…

Public health officials find churches are ideal sites for COVID vaccine clinics

While much has been written during the COVID-19 pandemic about the “when and how” of churches opening their doors for worship, a new thread in the story is beginning to take shape: churches hosting vaccination clinics. Depending on the state…

Virginia vaccine coordinator appeals to churches to minimize skepticism of COVID vaccine

Virginia’s coronavirus vaccine coordinator appealed to Baptist pastors to help model patience with the pace of inoculations and to help minimize skepticism around the growing scientific understanding of the virus and ways to prevent its spread. In a 45-minute Zoom…

What’s old is new again: Conservatives threaten funding over SBC’s ethics agency

From the Department of What’s Old is New Again: The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics agency is being accused of liberalism and creating a distraction from the work of evangelism and missions. During the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC that began…

Truth Decay: Christians are supposed to tell the truth

“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look around and take note! Search its squares and see if you can find one person who acts justly and seeks truth — so that I may pardon Jerusalem.” – Jeremiah 5:1 America’s…

Methodist seminary dean tapped to lead Belmont University

Gregory Jones, a Methodist minister and dean of Duke Divinity School, has been named president of Belmont University, effective June 1. He will succeed long-time president Bob Fisher, who will retire in May. Under Fisher’s leadership, Belmont experienced rapid growth…

Refugee resettlement expected to rebound, but the pipeline is broken

Repairing the global damage done by the Trump administration to refugee resettlement work will take time but will happen, according a panel of evangelical Christians deeply involved in such work. The Jan. 27 press briefing was convened by the National…

A letter to the white church in America

On April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., for leading a nonviolent demonstration for human rights. While he was being detained, he was given a newspaper that contained a statement written by eight white preachers….

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?