For two weeks in October, Elizabeth Newman served as the only woman and only Baptist representative to the Vatican’s international Synod on Synodality. One of the many lessons the ethicist and theologian learned in Rome was how to explain to…
Baptists worldwide join in day of prayer for Ukraine
Baptists from 50 nations joined together via Zoom today for a unified season of prayer for the people of Ukraine as they face Russian troops sent to their country by Vladimir Putin. The event included Baptist participants from other highly…
‘The situation here is terrible,’ Ukrainian Baptist leader tells European allies
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is unfolding as the worst possible scenario faith leaders could have envisioned, a Baptist leader said in a Zoom call Thursday, Feb. 24. More than 75 people joined the online conversation organized on short notice…
Ukrainian and European Baptist leaders issue urgent calls to prayer
Ukrainian Baptist leaders, along with other European Baptist leaders, have issued urgent calls to prayer for the intense conflict emerging at the Ukrainian-Russian border. As dawn broke in the region Wednesday, Feb. 16, the status of the enormous threat from…
Baptist groups returning to in-person meetings with hybrid options
The Baptist World Alliance has announced its 2022 annual gathering will be convened both online and in-person after two years of virtual-only meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And BWA isn’t alone. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Alliance of Baptists…
William Richard Tolbert III, Liberian Baptist leader, murdered in Monrovia
William Richard Tolbert III, 68, the last-born son of the late William R. Tolbert Jr, Liberia’s 20th president, died Nov. 1 in his apartment in Monrovia, Liberia, after being assaulted by a yet-not-known assailant. The Ministry of Justice in the…
Lifelong calling leads Merritt Johnston to lead BWA Women
Merritt Johnston surrendered her life to ministry as a high school senior, although her options may have seemed limited, growing up in a small-town Baptist church in Texas. “On that day, I had people asking me, ‘Does this mean you…
D.C. Baptist Convention installs Manarin, first female executive director in 145-year history
The District of Columbia Baptist Convention installed Trisha Miller Manarin as its executive director/minister — the first female to hold the job in the convention’s 145-year history — this fall. Manarin has held the position since August 2020, but the…
Baptists and Catholics together? Progress and promise despite a shaky start
A few years ago, I delivered a keynote address for a symposium on the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, held at Creighton University in connection with the 50th anniversary of its promulgation on Nov. 21, 1964. The fact…