Baptist News Global

If a favorite preacher, pundit or politician speaks in stereotypes, it’s time you changed the channel

The tool of a lazy mind, the product of shallow thinking and the evidence of unsettled and angry spirits, the stereotypes that are ubiquitous in the religious and political discourse of our age are also evidence of a nation misguided, the immaturity of the body politic.

Why Christians in the U.S. should be ‘truly frantic’

Headlines about Turkey’s October offensive in northern Syria have all but faded. But the danger is far from over for Christians trapped in the region. And the agony also remains palpable among refugees and others in North America who know…

Declining Baptist church in Silicon Valley chooses to ‘die with dignity’

A 126-year-old Baptist church that two years ago clashed with leaders of its affluent Silicon Valley community over traffic and parking concerns is seeking a buyer for its 1948 building that in its prime accommodated a congregation of 600 to 700 members but has now dwindled to about 25.

A ‘Civil Rides’ bicycle trek: a reminder that being ‘not-racist’ is not enough

During the Civil Rights Movement being not-racist in the midst of murder, lynching, theft and almost every other degradation known to humanity, wasn’t enough. It still isn’t.

Saints don’t have to be dead: gratitude for regular, blessed folk through whom goodness shines

Saints are regular, blessed folks around us through whom goodness shines. Being blessed is not about storing up riches and celebrity accolades; it is all about giving oneself away.

Pastor’s return to ministry received as bad news in abuse survivor community

Andy Savage – co-founder of a Tennessee megachurch who resigned last year as teaching pastor after admitting to sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl two decades earlier – is starting a new church for others who, in his words, “got our hands on the wrong thing.”

Sister, don’t ‘go home’; go preach!

John MacArthur’s “go home” comment directed toward Beth Moore was an insult to her and to her ministry of teaching and preaching. But it was more than that. It was an insult to every female preacher, teacher and pastor living out God’s call to ministry.

Pastors as ‘hybrid sailors’? New models for effective leadership in today’s churches

Borrowing from scripture and the U.S. Navy, I suggest a pastor’s role in today’s world should be like that of Jesus, who began his movement with the flexibility of a new type of vessel, a small crew and the vision of a new creation based on the pattern of heaven.

Princeton Seminary’s gift of reparations? Let’s talk instead about cultural competency

A genuine reparations process must focus fundamentally on achieving justice and equity for those who have been harmed, not on expiating the guilt of those who have benefitted, directly or indirectly, from the infliction of harm.

‘Gutsy church with a gutsy female pastor’ hosts Clintons in New Orleans

I want to be an innovator and I want to be part of this new thing being born.

Former state exec says arguments by NAMB attorneys increase SBC’s risk of liability for sexual abuse

For decades the SBC has avoided liability in criminal and civil actions involving churches or affiliated organizations by claiming they are all autonomous, self-governing organizations. But former Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware Executive Director Will McRaney claims in a new court document that lawyers representing NAMB turn that argument on its head.

The first black seminarians and remedying the legacy of white supremacy in theological education

The experience of James Bradley as one of America’s first black seminarians can show us how far we have come. But, even as theology schools consider ways to address their culture of whiteness, it also shows us how far we have yet to travel.

Theologizing with Larkin Poe, 10 years after Reskinned

Ministry leader with tall tales wins GOP bid for Colorado governor

What Willy Rice once knew

What I learned July 5 at church