In southern Kentucky, where poverty means prey, Scarlette Jasper is hard at work. Through education, housing assistance and developing the assets of local residents, Jasper is working to repair lives broken by rural poverty.
Church must leave four walls to heal post-election angst, Baptist leader says
Suzii Paynter didn’t get on Facebook first thing Wednesday morning like so many millions of other Americans did. But Paynter, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, said she didn’t need social media immediately to tell her how people felt…
On social media, laments and hope following Donald Trump election
God surely got an earful Wednesday from Americans emotional about the results of the 2016 presidential election. But God wasn’t alone. Social media heard plenty, too. First thing in the morning, Americans began posting about hopes dashed, dreams fulfilled and…
Now, post-election, begins the hard, long work of reconciliation
Donald Trump’s victory at the polls on Tuesday will by no means end the political division and rancor that defined the 2016 election season. Nor will the pain, fear and bitterness between Americans magically disappear because churches around the nation…
Religious liberty amidst religious pluralism
I spent Sunday with the good folk of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo. It is a strong American Baptist Churches-Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church, and annually the congregation hosts a Baptist Heritage Sunday. Last year Dr. Neville Callam of…
CBF sending new field personnel to China, New York City
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is seeking field personnel to fill positions in China and New York City. CBF announced online this week that it needs an individual, couple or family to serve a long-term assignment as a partnership advocate in…
Pastoral counselor promotes song titles as path to mini-Sabbaths, pastoral health
James Stillwell is a licensed pastoral counselor who does plenty of traveling to see clients in Kentucky. And somewhere in there he has a marriage he wants to maintain. That’s where prayer, meditation and Bachman Turner Overdrive’s hit song “Taking…
‘Spoken word’ preaching form gaining as racial justice movements grow
Somehow, Trey Lyon is able to pack nearly an hour of gospel into a few short minutes of preaching. And have it stick. “Trey’s sermons are 10 minutes, but I would argue they do more work theologically and homiletically than…
CBF unveils program to aid with ministerial debt
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced Oct. 12 it is accepting applications for grants up to $10,000 to aid pastoral leaders burdened with personal debt. The Ministerial Excellence Initiative, funded with a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s National Initiative…
Hurricane Matthew teaching churches a lesson on patience, flexibility
Hurricane Matthew is forcing churches from Florida to the Carolinas to practice flexibility. The folks at First Baptist Church in St. Simons Island, Ga., are an example of that. The congregation has been pushed to embrace the unknown since most…
CBF inks partnership with African-American denomination
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced a new partnership Oct. 5 with the National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc., seeking to build new bridges between predominantly black and white Baptist churches in the United States. CBF Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter…
CBF ‘Illumination Project’ prepares for listening phase
An ad hoc committee appointed in July is getting ready to enter a phase of listening to diverse voices within the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on matters of human sexuality, according to a report of last week’s meeting of the CBF…