HOUSTON — Baptists must aspire to the kind of freedom that leads them to relinquish their autonomy to God, historian Walter Shurden told participants at the William H. Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society’s annual meeting. Shurden received the society’s 2009 Courage…
Ministry network recognized, hailed as emerging trend at commissioning service
HOUSTON — Participants at a commissioning service held in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly not only prayed for six field personnel assuming new assignments, but also recognized representatives of a ministry network serving in China. Pastor Steve…
Transformed lives — not just sobriety — the goal of recovery ministries
Terry Walker fell to his knees in the shower stall of a South Texas substance abuse treatment center, crying out to God for release from the chains of addiction. “God blessed me with the gift of desperation,” Walker said. “At…
Callam: BWA is communion table for world Baptist family
HOUSTON (ABP) — The communion table provides a metaphor for how the Baptist World Alliance can unite Baptists in a “true spirit of hospitality,” Neville Callam insisted. Callam, general secretary of the worldwide umbrella group for Baptists, addressed the challenge…
Being Baptist
Some of the same theological disputes that divided Baptists throughout their first 400 years continue to distinguish different branches of the Baptist family tree in the early years of the 21st century, theologian James Leo Garrett said. And other challenges…
What does it mean to be Baptist?
Some of the same theological disputes that divided Baptists throughout their first 400 years continue to distinguish different branches of the Baptist family tree in the early years of the 21st century, theologian James Leo Garrett said. And other challenges…
What does it mean to be Baptist?
Some of the same theological disputes that divided Baptists throughout their first 400 years continue to distinguish different branches of the Baptist family tree in the early years of the 21st century, theologian James Leo Garrett said. And other challenges…
Baptist women clearly left their mark in colonial America
“Some of the early Baptist church records did not even list the names of women members, and early histories of the Baptist faith in America gave little attention to the role and contributions of women,” she said. “Because of this…
Southern progressivism left its mark on WMU
Southern-style Social Gospel may not be the first thing that springs to mind when most Baptists think of Woman’s Missionary Union, but Southern progressivism significantly influenced the organization in its formative years, church historian Carol Holcomb noted. Holcomb, associate professor…
Historic Baptist ordination practices reveal a tangled web
Pragmatism and tradition have stood alongside biblical and theological principles in shaping Baptist ordination practices, church historian Karen Bullock told the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute colloquy. “The concept of ordination as practiced by Baptists today is a complex — even…
Baptism: Neither a means of obtaining grace nor a trivial ritual
By looking back to their beliefs and practices from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century, Baptists can reclaim a view of baptism between the poles of sacramentalism and “mere symbolism,” church historian and theologian Sheila Klopfer said. Historically,…
What does it mean to be Baptist?
Some of the same theological disputes that divided Baptists throughout their first 400 years continue to distinguish different branches of the Baptist family tree in the early years of the 21st century, theologian James Leo Garrett said. And other challenges…