“Do not gloat when your enemy falls,” advises Proverbs. “When they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.” But conservative Christians couldn’t help gloating over layoffs and program cuts at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the $117 million nonprofit that has…
Georgia Baptists were unable to pay retirees’ supplemental insurance but found $2 million ‘surplus’ to give to SBC
A state Baptist convention that has not been able to pay its retirees’ promised medical supplements for two years made a $2 million extra gift to the Southern Baptist Convention’s two missions agencies Nov. 14. That extra giving — $1.7…
SBC Executive Committee won’t explain McLaurin’s resume lies, and new interim president backs out one day after being announced
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee won’t release details of its investigation into how its former interim president lied about his resume, and the person lined up to be the next interim president withdrew his name the day after he…
SBC Executive Committee eliminates 20% of staff due to budget crisis
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee eliminated 20% of its staff Sept. 13 but has not indicated what positions or people were affected. An announcement was made through Baptist Press, the in-house news service that is run by Executive Committee…
Layoffs begin at Southwestern Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has begun laying off staff as part of a financial restructuring approved by trustees earlier this month. No information was made public about how many layoffs were happening and who was affected. Baptist Press, in-house news…
Why do we have all these church programs?
My colleagues hate it when I read, especially something that isn’t religious, theological or churchy! For instance, when I read Googled: The End of the World as We Know It I ended up in a conference in California, and we…
on mega-churches, millennials and modernism.
In my hometown there is a church. This church has a sanctuary. A steeple. A large staff of religious professionals. A jet. A hashtag campaign for each sermon series. A fleet of boats. A “membership” of over 8,000. And at…
Does anybody really know what tithing is? Does anybody really care?
Has a more general, difficult to measure, New Testament-oriented concept called generosity snuffed out the clear, easy to measure, Old Testament concept of tithing? Let me try that again. Has a left-brained legalism about tithing interpreted as 10 percent of…
Let’s play: morph your church into a museum
The long-range goal of many congregations is to turn their church into a museum. It is not intentional. It is unintentional. It is just that actions taken year after year migrates them away from thriving as a missional movement to…