Earlier this month, the Southern Baptist Convention met in Orlando, Florida, and again voted against women in ministry. The next week, some Baptists met a couple hours north in Jacksonville for their own annual gathering. And you don’t have to look very…
BJC speakers inspire with tales of fighting authoritarianism
Fighting authoritarianism doesn’t require being violently forced to the ground and handcuffed by police outside an immigration detention center, said Michael Woolf, a Chicago-area Baptist pastor, author and activist who experienced that very thing. “There’s something for everybody to do,…
Rededicating to the Wrong Example
This Sunday (May 17), the administration led by a guy who hasn’t attended a Sunday worship service in 4.5 years will put on a “worship” service on the National Mall. Called “Rededicate 250,” the event is supposedly part of the…
Review & Giveaway: Becoming Neighbors
The concept of “neighbor” is a pretty big deal within the Christian faith. In summarizing God’s law and his teachings, Jesus basically says love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39). It’s ironic that…
Baptist journalist broke the story of Hegseth’s Pulp Fiction prayer
A Baptist journalist is responsible for identifying Pete Hegseth’s prayer as cribbed from Pulp Fiction, and his attention to detail has gone around the world. It was Brian Kaylor, editor of Word&Way, who broke the news of last Wednesday’s Pentagon worship…
Pete Hegseth’s War Prayer
Standing in the Pentagon for a monthly worship service on March 25, the man who likes to call himself the “secretary of war” prayed for God to pour out righteous wrath in the Iran conflict by helping “break the teeth” and kill…
Trump and Hegseth defy evangelical theology at Prayer Breakfast
Much attention has been paid to the remarks of President Donald Trump at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, but the real story is what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, according to Brian Kaylor. Kaylor, editor of Word&Way, writes a Substack…
Christian nationalism is a power grab, Kaylor says in new book
There’s a simple reason Christian nationalists are willing to abandon long-held values and rewrite, redact and reinterpret the Bible as needed to support Donald Trump, Brian Kaylor says. “They want power,” said Kaylor, a Baptist minister, editor-in-chief of Word&Way and…
House Democrats draw flak for supporting Charlie Kirk day
Congressional resolutions declaring Oct. 14 a day of remembrance for slain right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk have fueled squabbling among House Democrats and confirm the continuing rise of Christian nationalism in conservative American politics, observers say. The U.S. House of Representatives…
Clergy oppose Missouri Legislature rewriting Ten Commandments
A Missouri Senate committee approved legislation to place the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms, but not before rewriting the Scriptures to conform with conservative political ideology, said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and leader of a clergy coalition opposed to…
Speaker Mike Johnson wrongly attributes prayer to Thomas Jefferson
Upon his re-election as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, R-La., read a prayer he said was written by Thomas Jefferson. Problem is, those who have studied the former president’s life and words say there is no…
Why is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott violating Article VI of the U.S. Constitution?
Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states, in part: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Yet, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is violating this article of the…