Michael Sciretti Jr. has spent years teaching about, and guiding students through, the Enneagram, an ancient practice that inspires spiritual growth through personality typing. And Sciretti, who is a Baptist, said he has also learned how important it is that…
El Paso congregation seeking nones and dones who call the border home
From the outside, the nondescript building in downtown El Paso doesn’t look much like a church. But the converted gymnasium does in fact serve as home to Mesa Place Church. And Christian Gurrola may not look like a pastor to…
Can a Baptist be a Catholic?
A cadre of Baptist scholars has been writing about emerging catholicity, the holy desire for unity among all ecclesial communions. Taking tradition more seriously as a source for theological construction, these Baptists urge usage of the ancient creeds of the…
Sue for religious freedom? It’s not just for conservatives, anymore
The number of religious freedom bills across the United States may give the impression that using the law to protect faith is a purely conservative pursuit. Well, it isn’t, says Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Despite size, Nagasaki Cross inspires reflection on Christian unity, breaking barriers
It is known as the Nagasaki Cross, a small — about 15 inches tall and 7 inches wide — Christian symbol forged from debris found in the wreckage of a middle school located 1,500 feet from where an American plutonium bomb detonated on Aug. 9, 1945.
Christian, Baptist, Evangelical? Just call me a Jesus follower (then again, maybe not)
These three words — Christian, Baptist and evangelical — have such diverse meanings in contemporary society they hardly mean anything at all. So I would just rather be known as a would-be Jesus follower.
For a congregation in Spain, feeding ministry defines identity
Feeding people does more than satiate their hunger. Daniel Banyuls, pastor of Iglesia Evangelica Bautista in Cerdanyola, Spain, can testify to that. “Through this feeding ministry, we are fighting material, educational, emotional and spiritual poverty,” Banyuls said. Banyuls has served…
Christian, Baptist, Evangelical — two out of three ain’t bad
Recently, someone who presents himself as “religiously unaffiliated” asked: “Aren’t you evangelicals really just the Republican Party at prayer?” We are good friends, so I responded: “Who’s ‘you evangelicals,’ you none?” For those readers who don’t have cable TV or…
After all these years, why still Baptist?
I hear the question all the time. I meet someone for the first time at a party, they eventually ask what I do for work, and then the follow-up is some version of, “How are you Baptist?”