With Roman Catholics deeply entrenched against relaxing Brazil’s restrictive abortion laws and other groups like Anglicans on the fence, a progressive Baptist leader says it’s time to hear from poor women fearing birth defects who seek them. An indigenous Baptist…
Focus on Commandment, not Constitution
By Paula Dempsey The best lack all conviction While the worst are full of passionate intensity. —William Butler Yeats The conversation I overheard in the bread aisle of the grocery store about owning handguns had the same demeanor and tone…
Baptist church to counter Westboro protests with ‘witness of inclusion’
By Jeff Brumley What should your church do if Westboro Baptist planned to picket the high school across the street? If you ask Pastor Jill McCrory of Twinbrook Baptist Church, the answer is stream giant rainbow banners from the windows…
Church history: Toward the future
This is the eighth of a nine-part series on empowering a faith community to impact the world. Already theology, hospitality, evangelism, missions, ethics, Bible, and spirituality have been explored. These articles can be found at the Perspectives tab at Baptist…
Host church withdraws from boycott, divestment and sanctions discussion
By Bob Allen The Alliance of Baptists had to scramble to find a venue for its Sept. 18-20 conference on waging peace and justice in the Holy Land when the host church withdrew its invitation the day before the meeting….
Baptist leaders mark pope’s visit with call to action on climate change
By Bob Allen Leaders of two Baptist groups were among 34 interfaith leaders across the United States sending a letter to Congress in light of the pope’s visit and his call for action to fight climate change. Paula Clayton Dempsey,…
Joining Muslim and Christian hearts and hands
“Tell me,” she asked, “what is the essence of your religion?” “Loving God and loving one another, “ I replied. “And we demonstrate our love for God and neighbor by working to assure dignity, equality, freedom and justice for all,”…
Baptists reflect on fellowship as ‘nones’ seek their own brand of community
By Jeff Brumley They may be leaving or avoiding organized religion in droves, but the nation’s “nones” are still craving community — otherwise known as fellowship — recent reports suggest. Known also as the religiously unaffiliated, this growing segment of the U.S….
Project seeks to get churches talking about issues of sex and racism
By Bob Allen A progressive Baptist organization committed to social and economic justice has launched a program to help churches begin conversations about LGBT inclusion and racial justice. Last fall the Alliance of Baptists received a $104,400 Arcus Foundation grant…