Of all the workshops offered at last month’s CBF General Assembly, at least one of them counted on its participants checking their comfort zones at the door. The leaders of “The Elephant in the Room: Engaging in Dialogue around Race…
In N. Charleston, justice advocate avoids anger, burnout with centering prayer
Last year was an especially difficult one for folks in and around Charleston, S.C. Bill Stanfield, CEO of a faith-based community development organization, centering prayer emerged as his response.
Delta-bred Coker returns home from New England to lead Mississippi CBF
The thermometer offered a 103-degree “Welcome Home” recently to Mississippi native Jason Coker, returning to his roots after 14 years of church leadership in Wilton, Conn. A Baptist from the South with a drawl, Coker arrived in the affluent Connecticut…
Celebration a key discipline like fasting and prayer, ministers say
Spiritual formation usually brings to mind practices like contemplative prayer and fasting, silence and meditation, walking the labyrinth and celebration. Wait, celebration?
When it comes to same-sex marriage, it’s all over but the shoutin’
I recently spent one day at the national convocation of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which is just beginning a conversation about the hiring of non-celibate gay employees. That frustrating experience made me reflect on my own experience. I thought I…
Analysis: A timeline of CBF’s LGBTQ debate
Recent weeks have seen renewed interest in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 16-year-old policy that prohibits the intentional hiring of non-celibate gays and lesbians. Here’s a recap of how the 1,800-church Fellowship got to where it is today on the LGBTQ question,…
Separating mission and spiritual formation is bad strategy, say ministers
If he had a magic wand, Trey Lyon says he would likely transform the way churches conceive, fund and experience mission and spiritual formation. Basically, he would combine them. “I would love to see churches with ministers of mission and spiritual…
Missional DNA enabled churches to heal communities after Pulse and Sandy Hook
Pastor Terri Steed Pierce knew even before arriving at church the morning of June 12 that worship was going to be radically different at Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando. Many in her LGBTQ congregation knew victims killed or wounded…
Ethicist urges caution about changing CBF hiring policy
Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, has cautioned Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders about how to respond to growing demands that the organization reverse its 16-year-old ban on hiring non-celibate gays.