Baptist News Global

Indiana wants Supreme Court to let it deny parental rights to same-sex couples

While same-sex couples already were fretting that a new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court could turn the legality of future marriages back to the states, a more sinister threat to families has emerged from Indiana. On Nov. 23,…

In Tennessee and Kentucky, religious freedom claims and COVID prevention plans are in conflict

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain the already contentious boundaries of religious practice versus public policy. In the same week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled New York may not restrict religious worship gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus, two…

Truth Decay: Truth as an issue in Christian ethics

“Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Anything more than comes from the evil one.” — Matthew 5:37 Six years ago, I took to the pages of Associated Baptist Press (now Baptist News Global), to puzzle over…

Everything I know about separation of church and state I learned from my mother

I must have been in the third or fourth grade when Mama said to me, “When people want prayer in the schools, they are assuming the person who is praying has the same beliefs they do.” And then she added,…

Your church’s purpose is not to make you happy

Your church’s purpose is not to make you happy. Your church’s purpose is to help you become like Jesus. Expect the former and live disappointed. Expect the latter and live with deep satisfaction and significance. This conversation has happened enough…

With five weeks remaining in this bizarre year, churches hope to finish well fiscally

While stuffed Americans put away the Thanksgiving leftovers and turn to the online Black Friday shopping ritual, houses of worship are hoping their members will drop by their websites as well. As the year of COVID approaches its first end,…

What does the Supreme Court’s midnight COVID ruling really mean for religious liberty?

Has Amy Coney Barrett’s arrival on the United States Supreme Court changed the court’s perspective on houses of worship and COVID-19 restrictions? Or, were the restrictions imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo simply more draconian than restrictions in California…

We’re not ready for Advent, but it’s coming anyway

The arrival of Advent this year may be more important than it ever has been before. The definition of the word itself should make this reality clear: the “arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” We often speak in…

Church building for sale but congregation’s mission continues

It’s a story all-too familiar these days: Historic church building for sale. This time, it’s Calvary Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., which has listed its 55,000-square-foot building, which sits on 1.68 acres in downtown Roanoke, at $1.95 million. The historic…

Interfaith group calls on Biden administration to ‘restore’ religious freedom protections

A group of nearly 100 interreligious leaders has offered four suggestions to the incoming Biden-Harris administration on urgent work necessary to restore religious freedom protections. “The Trump administration has taken many actions that undermine religious freedom,” the group’s letter says….

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?