In any other year, the following fact would have been a minor footnote in a story about United Methodists electing a gay male pastor as bishop in defiance of the denomination’s official ban on gay ministers: Cedrick Bridgeforth is a…
Defender of the Faith or Defender of Faith — a distinction informed by Baptist history
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8, her heir, Charles, became King Charles III. Accompanied by grief and grateful tributes from around the world, Elizabeth II’s death marks the end of a lengthy era of British history…
News flash: Not all Baptists are Southern
Southern Baptists make up less than half of all Baptists in the United States. But you’d never guess that from media coverage. Last month, Baptist leaders from dozens of nations gathered in Birmingham, Ala., for the first in-person meeting of…
War in Ukraine transforms churches into centers of care
More than 150 days of war in Ukraine have transformed Baptist congregations into much more than houses of worship. “Baptists have become centers for food, shelter, electricity and water. Equally importantly, Baptist churches are centers of respite and psycho-social care,…
Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, opens its doors and hearts to Ukrainians
The fact that Moldova is one of the poorest nations in Europe has not kept it from being one of the most welcoming and generous to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invaders. And Baptists have been…
Connect the dots from Methodists to Baptists to Episcopalians to Presbyterians and national politics
Maybe this is simply stating the obvious, but here goes: There is a pattern to what is happening in the United Methodist Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church and other American churches. And that pattern…
Baptists and other religious minorities already facing severe persecution in Russian-occupied portions of Ukraine
Religious minorities in Ukraine, and Baptists in particular, may be singled out for especially harsh treatment in areas overrun by Russian forces, according to Elijah Brown, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. Speaking during a 45-minute virtual press briefing…
Why it’s wrong to assume American evangelicals are siding with Russia over Ukraine
If Vladimir Putin wanted to invade a former Soviet-bloc country and get the blessings of American Christians, he might have done better than choosing Ukraine. Among all the countries that once made up the USSR, Ukraine today stands out as…
600 Ukrainian Baptist churches actively responding to humanitarian need
Baptist churches in Ukraine are providing around-the-clock humanitarian relief in increasingly difficult circumstances as Russia’s offensive widens, the European Baptist Federation said in a March 8 situation report. “Ukrainian Baptists continue to respond to the war in their country. Churches…