By Bob Allen A historic church formerly affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention is making headlines with a “discernment” process about how to relate to the LGBTQ community. In early May members of First Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C., approved…
Pastor greeted with bombing on first day in N.M. church
By Jeff Brumley One of two churches bombed in Las Cruces, N.M., on Sunday included one with a brand new pastor from a Baptist congregation in Missouri. Kevin Glenn also is an expert and author on the subject of restoring…
Youth pastor’s arrest affects two churches
By Bob Allen Two prominent Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma are cooperating with police after the arrest of a youth pastor charged with sending inappropriate text messages to four boys at his former congregation. Police in Shawnee, Okla., arrested Brian…
Young adults challenging traditional church membership concepts
By Jeff Brumley The value and purpose of church membership is becoming an increasingly hot topic in Baptist and other congregations these days. And that’s “hot” as in controversial and heated, not popular. And it’s one that occasionally pits older…
Adopting schools is about community building, not proselytizing, educators say
By Vicki Brown The pastor of the Baptist church in the small rural community saunters down the hallway in a public school toward the cafeteria, greeting students by name as he goes. Once through the lunch line, he nabs a…
For these Baptists, VBS transforms congregations and communities
By Jeff Brumley and Olivia Williams Two Waco, Texas, Baptist congregations learned firsthand this summer that vacation Bible school can be a catalyst for bringing down cultural and racial barriers in a community. That lesson puts them in the company of…
Feds offer reward in black church fire
By Bob Allen The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has announced a reward up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who set a predominantly Africa-American church in Charlotte, N.C.,…
Musical Chairs and the leaders of dying organizations
By Mark Wingfield “I don’t want the ship to go down on my watch.” These words have been uttered, or perhaps muttered under the breath, by many a pastor and organizational leader who has found themselves at the helm of…
Interim pastoring has evolved into skilled calling, Baptists say
By Jeff Brumley The modern interim pastor is radically different from his or her predecessors, ministers and congregational coaches say. It’s increasingly rare for an interim to be a mere placeholder between full-time pastors in a church. And relatively few…
Baptist churches learn that serving schools yields big rewards
By Vicki Brown and Jeff Brumley Serving Clark Elementary School helps the roughly 40 members of Woodlawn Avenue Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., realize they have a purpose, a contribution to make to their community. For members at First Baptist…
Black church fires evoke both fear and faith in Baptist communities
By Jeff Brumley Baptist and other Christians are reaching out to the victims of the many African-American church fires reported during the past couple of weeks, ministers say. And it doesn’t matter whether or not arson has been identified as…
On their own: The challenges, blessings of being sole pastors of small churches
By Jeff Brumley Being the sole pastor of small church isn’t for the faint of heart, Baptist ministers say. Sermon preparation, visiting the sick and balancing the budget can be even more nerve-racking when being performed by a minister serving…