By Jeff Brumley Baptists are increasingly observing Lent this year if Facebook is any indication, with news feeds filled with announcements of morning, afternoon and evening Ash Wednesday services today. Among the first were the folks at Park Avenue Baptist…
Church, CBF responding to Miss. twister
By Jeff Brumley The images and stories from Hattiesburg, Miss., present the devastation the Sunday’s twister brought to the city. But when finally reached by phone in the Mississippi town, Rusty Edwards had to mention the miraculous. “As far as I…
Church sponsors handgun class
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist church in Texas is offering a concealed handgun license class March 2 as a community service. “This is an opportunity to meet a real need in our county,” Brad Foster, pastor of Calvary Baptist…
Why your church building-use policy matters
By Bill Wilson I know firsthand how utterly boring and laborious creating a building-use policy can be. Every church I served entered into a major building project. The debate around building use has been a constant. It also has evolved…
Who cares for the caregivers?
By Ken Camp The New Testament commands Christ’s followers to “bear one another’s burdens.” But applying that principle to caregivers—people who shoulder the around-the-clock responsibility for meeting the needs of someone who cannot live independently because of advanced age, illness…
Evangelism is more than confrontation
One of my long-term church friends and I have friendly banter about my use of words and phrases that are probably more complicated than they need to be. Regularly, Lane and I have friendly conversations about the use of complex…
Baptist church sign wows NYC, media
By Jeff Brumley “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Thus read the sign recently in front of Madison Avenue Baptist Church, a New York City congregation whose pastor is all about convincing folks…
Church Super Bowl party with a twist
By Robert Dilday Like many American congregations University Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Va., has a Super Bowl tradition, but this one has a twist. The viewing audience is homeless men seeking shelter from the sub-freezing temperatures typical during February in…
Super Bowl big day for traffickers
By Daniel Wallace While Baltimore and San Francisco fought it out on the gridiron Sunday in New Orleans, law enforcement and ministries across the city were waging a battle against the modern version of the slave trade: human trafficking. Authorities…
Church security after Sandy Hook
By Jeff Brumley The Sandy Hook school massacre terrified parents nationwide and sparked a debate on gun control and school security. But it’s also led to some soul searching on church staffs worried about how to best protect worshipers and…
Put your heart into it
By Bill Wilson Recently, our staff was talking about things our parents would tell us that we find ourselves repeating to our children or ourselves. We had to admit that we increasingly sound like those voices we vowed never to…
Abuse cover-up alleged at SBC church
By Bob Allen A mother who says her son was molested more than 20 years ago by a then-staff member at one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s largest churches says the congregation’s leaders need to come clean about what a…