Baptist News Global

Tearing down statues doesn’t erase history

Three years ago, I wrestled with the news that my great-grandmother’s statue memorializing “Uncle Jeff” had been removed by the City of New Orleans from the site where it had stood on Canal Street since 1911. I know it really…

Transitions for the week of 7-3-20

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Wade Arnold, to First Baptist Church, Clemmons, N.C., as pastor. He comes from First Church, Oviedo, Fla., where…

“Well …” Hardy died: Remembering a friendship

It was the word I heard him say more than any other single word in over four decades of deep friendship. He said it the same way every time, but, inexplicably, it fit every possible situation. I told him a…

Texas Megachurch Defends Having Choir Of Over 100 Sing In Front Of Mike Pence

A Dallas evangelical church is standing by its decision to have an over 100-person choir sing without masks during a Sunday service attended by Vice President Mike Pence.

Profane comments about Texas governor deserve scrutiny; comments on his disability do not

Helen Jerman is a professional writer and editor in Dallas, who is paralyzed from the knee down due to spina bifida and is a wheelchair user as a result. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and now works in…

When I’m honest, I know racism is real

This week I took the unusual step of posting a direct appeal to Facebook. This message has been welling up inside of me for several weeks, and as a preacher, I was compelled to tell it. I asked my congregation…

Q&A with Doris Garcia Rivera: Seeking peace in turbulent times

Doris García Rivera saw just about everything during 23 years as an American Baptist missionary serving in Latin America. And it’s a good thing, because she arrived at the helm of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America just in time to guide it through the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive social unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd.

Alabama death row inmate hopes courts will allow chaplain by his side at execution

Charles L. Burton Jr. doesn’t want to be alone when he dies. The death row inmate hopes a federal court will make sure that does not happen.

We must learn from our suffering and help others with what we’ve learned

To understand suffering, we need to understand something more of the Creator. Through dogma and doctrine, we have developed a definition of a sovereign ruler of the universe that is not big enough to be its creator. Far too often,…

In Louisville, learning as a white witness in Black space

Last Saturday, June 27, a paramilitary outfit of white nationalists threatened on social media to “take back” our city from the racial justice protesters occupying Injustice Park in downtown Louisville. They predicted that the encampment of largely peaceful protesters would be cleared by nightfall.

Is the United Methodist separation still on?

Getting to the question of whether the biggest Methodist branch will divide requires a look at why separation poses such a monumental challenge for the 12-million-member worldwide denomination, with more than 7 million members in the United States.

Supreme Court opens new chapter of state funding for religious schools

The hotly contested barrier between private religious schools and government funding cracked significantly wider June 30 with a landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the state of Montana may not…

The wicked are punished — or not

What Ryan Burge sees in America’s megachurches

We are a nation of immigrants

As worldwide deaths mount, Musk insists DOGE cuts didn’t kill anyone