Dinner, dessert and fellowship, it turned out, were only appetizers at the Friends of BNG Annual Fund Dinner.
Powerful spiritual force needed to counter critical national, world challenges
Research shows that a slight majority of Americans believe religion can solve most of the world’s problems. According to Gallup, 55 percent of Americans hold that view. Broken down by politics, 71 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of Democrats express that…
Campolo says ‘Red Letter Revival’ seeks to convert evangelicals to social activism
A group of Christians often labeled as “progressive evangelicals” will hold a revival — in Lynchburg, Va., a center of conservative Christianity — designed to reconnect that old-time religion with concern and activism for social justice.
Longtime BNG/ABP staffer moving to New Baptist Covenant
Lindsay Bergstrom — a veteran editor and graphic designer who worked nearly two decades mostly behind the scenes in a myriad of roles for Baptist News Global and its predecessor, Associated Baptist Press — is taking her talents elsewhere.
Bi-vocational, black female pastor overcame doubters to thrive in pulpit
Like any pastor, LaTonya McIver Penny is busy. But this minister’s calendar goes above and beyond busy. In addition to leading New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Roxboro, N.C., and all that entails, Penny is a mother of two and runs a non-profit advocating for the respectful and compassionate treatment of children with disabilities in churches. And like other women pastors, Penny confronted her share of opposition from those who say females should not be pastors.
Trump insult making life difficult for overseas missionaries
The outrage over the comment made to senators in a meeting on immigration, and which the president eventually denied, has faded as Trump deals with newer scandals, including revelations of a tryst with a porn star. But there are those who continue to simmer about the “shithole” reference, including American Christians who have served as long- and short-term missionaries in some of the African and other nations Trump disparaged.
These pastors see rural America — and its churches — as a growing mission field
Relatively few ministerial candidates want to lead small country congregations. It’s understandable. Those settings require pastors to provide all the functions usually divvied up by larger church staffs: pastoral care, preaching, teaching youth and children, paying the bills and preparing budgets. But there are unexpected rewards in rural churches, say some pastors.
American pastor in Canada doesn’t miss culture wars, church growth pressures
When U.S. pastor Justin Joplin accepted a call to a Baptist church in Canada, he found a Baptist identity free from anxiety over a decline from majority cultural status. That is liberating, he says.
2017’s top religion stories are a doozy
The year 2017 may not have been the biggest ever for religion news in the U.S. or the world, but it has to be close.