Note: In a recent post I talked about the role of women in ministry regarding church planting. In this new post, I focus on my personal passion for starting new congregations that is foundational to urging a generation of women…
D.C. Baptists defend ex-gay barred from concert
By Jeff Brumley The president of an African-American Baptist group in Washington, D.C., has criticized the city’s mayor over reports that the politician uninvited an ex-gay singer from performing in a Civil Rights commemoration event. The singer, pastor and 2010…
Baptists boot scouts from Alaska church
By Jeff Brumley A Baptist congregation in Alaska has booted a local scouting troop because of the Boy Scouts of America decision to welcome openly gay members. The Anchorage Daily News reported that Anchorage Baptist Temple dropped its sponsorship of…
Doubt not a sin, says pastor to church hit by murder
By Jeff Brumley The Alabama church whose associate pastor was detained in a murder investigation learned Sunday that it’s OK for Southern Baptists to express anger and sadness and even to harbor doubts about God and faith when faced with…
When small churches merge with large ones
By Jeff Brumley Some see the nation’s burgeoning church merger and multisite movements resulting from larger congregations preying on smaller ones, pressuring them into relinquishing buildings and land in exchange for survival. In some circles, that’s called “steeple-jacking.” But it’s…
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…
Refugees reap blessing after Okla. twisters
By Jeff Brumley It was 97 degrees in Oklahoma City Friday afternoon, and the 22-mph wind made it even hotter as Missourian Amy Heap and her misson team from CrossHaven Church spent hours unloading four box trucks containing furniture. But heat…
A tale of two Chucks
What a couple of agnostics taught me about congregational business. I have two friends who are particularly dear to me, both named Chuck. I first met The Chucks, as I call them, a few years ago in a writers’ group…
Sharing faith through furniture
This story was edited after posting. By Jeff Brumley Twenty-seven families in Moore, Okla., received a combined 325 pieces of furniture Saturday during a church-run furniture distribution for victims of the May tornadoes. Moore resident John Wright described it as just…