On July 23, Prime will release its second season of Shiny Happy People, and they’ll be dragging some old bones out of the closet, including some of my bones. Back in 2008, I attended Teen Mania’s Honor Academy. If you’ve…
BNG’s top analysis pieces in 2024 looked at megachurch pastors and Project 2025
The most-read Baptist News Global analysis pieces in 2024 were dominated by instances of clergy sexual abuse and the misogyny and hyper-masculinity being preached from megachurch pulpits. Embattled personalities like Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler were among the leaders whose…
How any pastor, even if they’re not affirming, can love queer people
In recent news, a massive exodus of the church has come into focus. A New York Times series by Jessica Grose tracks and analyzes why “the largest and fastest religious shift is under way,” and back in the fall, Pew…
God’s pronouns are they/them
God transcends gender. Theologically speaking, God is nonbinary. That means in English, God’s pronouns are they/them. God is trans. I’d love to say this thought was originally mine, but that would be another cis white man commandeering someone else’s thought,…
What is the cost of the church’s failure in ‘Explaining Jesus’ to its members?
In his 2018 song “Explaining Jesus” Jordy Searcy opens the floor to a solemn and honest discussion about evangelical church life. He begins the song with lyrics that acknowledge some gay believers’ feelings of inadequacy when they consider their relationship…
I asked people why they’re leaving Christianity, and here’s what I heard
For some time now, Christianity has been on the decline. According to a September 2022 Pew study, people identifying as Christian have decreased from 90% of the U.S. population in 1972 to 64% in 2020. But it’s not just researchers…