Two weeks after he preached a sermon calling for action to oppose the worst impulses of the incoming Trump administration, a North Carolina pastor was forced out of his prominent pulpit. Ben Boswell, who had been senior minister at Myers…
True confession: I’m addicted to being white
Hello, my name is Ben and I’m addicted to whiteness. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but I know I wasn’t born this way. No one is born addicted, but I was nursed and raised by addicts who were…
Church’s ‘awakening’ pilgrimage traces steps of detained immigrants
Two dozen members of a progressive Baptist church in North Carolina followed the road from immigration court in Charlotte to a notorious ICE prison in Georgia during a two-day pilgrimage protesting the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy toward unauthorized border crossings…
Baptists protest deportation of church member outside ICE office where he was detained
“When ICE trapped Gilles in Charlotte, they trapped Jesus. When Gilles was throw into prison and denied his medical care, Christ himself was imprisoned and denied treatment, ” said North Carolina pastor Lauren Efird.
Ready to ‘welcome the stranger,’ Baptist church invites Muslim spiritual leader to preach Advent service
Some folks may be stunned to learn that a Baptist church in Charlotte, N.C., has invited a Muslim to preach from its pulpit on the first Sunday in Advent. But the idea seemed a natural one for the congregation, given its 2017 preaching and formational theme titled “Awakening to Immigration.”
Alliance Baptists protest ‘fake’ N.C. bathroom bill repeal
Representatives of a progressive Baptist group that decided last year to protest rather than boycott North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill” said April 28 the so-called repeal of HB2 may have helped the state’s economy but does nothing to protect people…
Minister joins effort to address North Carolina’s role in torture
A former military officer turned Baptist minister denounced torture as “unjust, immoral and unethical on religious grounds” in a telephone press conference March 15 launching the new nonprofit North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture. “All religions traditions affirm the…
Myers Park Baptist Church calls pastor
By Bob Allen A two-year search for a new pastor of Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., ended Nov. 22 with the unanimous election of Benjamin Boswell. Boswell, 35, is the youngest senior pastor ever to serve at the…