By Bob Allen The final report of a blue-ribbon task force appointed two years ago to chart a future for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is now available online, giving Fellowship Baptists a month to digest the 24-page document before it…
CBF explores new ways to do church
By Jeff Brumley A period of guided spiritual direction is often recommended for Christians struggling with their enthusiasm for discipleship. The same principle holds for congregations, Davis said, and is the approach she will employ as a speaker at “Impacting…
Coordinating Council ratifies 2012 Task Force report
By Lance Wallace The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council approved the 2012 Task Force report May 1, sending it to the General Assembly in June for a vote. A quorum of the council met in Atlanta, on the phone and…
A family conversation, part 2
By David Gushee #1 The conference presupposes that there is such a thing as the Church, which is not the same as the State or the Culture, and that the Church is (something like) that community of human beings who…
Burmese Baptists struggle to adapt to life in United States
By Jeff Brumley Most pastors will attest the ministry isn’t anything close to a 40-hour work week. On top of sermon preparation, preaching, hospital visits and counseling, the leader of one congregation of Myanmar refugees in Jacksonville, Fla., has an…
Lesbian Christian singer goes back to church — with a different message
By Greg Warner When Christian singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp acknowledged her homosexuality a few years ago, she figured she was done singing in churches. She already had walked away from her eight-year career in contemporary Christian music in 2002 because her…
A conservative at the Baptist sexuality conference
By Mike Glover As one of recently few attendees who is — and intends to remain — traditionalist in my ethic of sexuality, I found last weekend’s [Baptist] Covenant on Sexuality and Covenant a unique experience. I heard many speakers…
Sexuality conference not your parents’ Baptist church
By Joe Phelps It seems appropriate that the [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant met in Atlanta, home of columnist Lewis Grizzard, author of Shoot Low, Boys: They’re Ridin’ Shetland Ponies. I followed Grizzard’s advice, assuming this gathering, co-sponsored by…
Speakers say churches can learn from same-sex couples
A gay Christian told Baptists April 20 that whatever their views about homosexuality, churches can learn something from committed same-sex covenant relationships. Cody Sanders delivers a paper during a plenary session examing the boundaries of covenant. (CBF photos) Cody Sanders,…