In her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott suggests, “A good marriage is where both people feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal.” However, I can readily identify with Winston Churchill’s assessment: “My most…
100 clergy who are Samford grads urge president to reverse exclusionary policy
More than 100 clergy who are alumni of Samford University have signed an open letter to university President Beck Taylor asking for a reversal of the school’s new policy to exclude from campus ministries churches that affirm same-sex marriage. “We…
Pandemic exposed injustices, but those lessons are fading away, research shows
The realities of racial, economic and gender injustice exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic began to fade from consciousness only a year later, according to researcher Eileen Campbell-Reed. During the first two years of the coronavirus outbreak, the Baptist theologian and…
A thoughtful question at Bubba-Doo’s
Before I arrive at my favorite country store, I can know instinctively who I might see once I get there. All I’ve got to do is glance at my watch. Based on what time it is, I’ll have a decent…
After the Guidepost report, we need to know more about FBC Woodstock’s City of Refuge and NAMB’s support for it: Was ‘moral failures’ code for sexual abuse?
This May, the Southern Baptist Convention felt shockwaves when a nearly 300-page report was published by a third-party investigative firm documenting systematic coverups of sexual abuse within the denomination. In the report, former SBC President Johnny Hunt was accused of…
How a verbally abusive male pastor derailed a young woman from ministry
“I can’t tell you how many Monday mornings I cried in the bathroom not wanting to go to work because I was so terrified of what the senior pastor was going to say to me when he came into the…
Leaving church, part 4: The coming clergy shortage
Baptist churches may soon face clergy shortages like other faith traditions. Emily Brown, in a February 2022 Relevant article, “The Great American Clergy Shortage is Coming,” noted: “Roughly 3,544 Catholic parishes in the U.S. lack a parish priest,” and “in…
Yet another study confirms: Many pastors are hanging on by a thread
New research confirms that the past year has been an especially tough one for pastors in the United States as they’ve faced partisan rancor and feelings of isolation and stress that led a growing number to consider leaving full-time ministry….
The moral dimension of the ministerial vocation
Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. … Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls…