American religious historian Nathan Hatch famously argued that when you scratch beneath the surface of piety and polity that distinguishes them, Baptists and Methodists are actually more alike than they appear because the same cultural forces of democratic populism shaped…
On being a post-evangelical, ecumenical church in the Baptist tradition
Now that headline is a mouthful, but it feels like a way forward for congregational life today. That may be too many labels. The story is told of a rancher in Texas showing a friend his huge spread which combined…
A controversial horror film embodies the real-life horrors of church abuse
There’s a thin line between reading a memoir written by somebody who grew up in conservative Christianity and watching a horror movie. As Christa Brown, a frequent contributor to Baptist News Global, releases her new memoir Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse,…
To save democracy, one place to start is in church
American democracy is under serious threat as we approach the 2024 election. Former President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have normalized political violence in the wake of the January 6 riot, invoked poisonous and dehumanizing speech about opponents as…
Murder of Baptist pastor in Myanmar brings new attention to the ‘under-reported war’
The fatal shooting of a Baptist pastor in Myanmar reflects an upsurge of civil war violence targeting Christians, Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities. Outrage over the March 18 killing of Nammye Hkun Jaw Li comes at a time…
Ukrainian Baptists should be shocked that Baptists in America are abandoning them
I don’t understand why Speaker Mike Johnson, by all accounts a committed Baptist, is abandoning the Baptists of Bucha, Ukraine. We all remember Bucha as the city where, two years ago, Russian invaders raped, tortured and murdered. I also remember…
What would happen if clergy unionized?
From the successful unionization of Starbucks baristas in Buffalo to striking actors and writers in Hollywood, support for labor unions is on the rise in a post-pandemic world. A Gallup poll from August reported 67% of Americans approve of unions…
Russian Baptist leader targeted, flees home after praying for peace
Yuri Sipko, a former president of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Russia, fled his homeland in August when authorities attempted to arrest him for publicly praying for peace in Ukraine. The retired pastor and former vice president of the…
Christianity after Christendom
In 1850, there were about 700,000 Baptists in the United States, evenly divided between North and South. As the nation expanded and grew, Baptists advanced in membership and social standing. As they expanded, they divided into divergent denominational groups, and…