The COVID-19 pandemic has imbued grieving and isolation with deeper, darker shades during the 2020 holiday season, a panel of experts said during a Dec. 3 webinar hosted by Baptist News Global. The pain of suffering loss or, for LGBTQ…
BWA will move delayed 2020 World Congress to virtual format
The Baptist World Alliance recently announced its 22nd Baptist World Congress will be held virtually in July 2021 — a year after the original, in-person event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alliance…
Bonhoeffer Moment No. 5: Finding a ‘will for the future’
Reflecting on the long-term impact of the Bubonic Plague (1346-1353) sweeping across Europe and ravaging his native Florence, the poet Petrarch wrote: “O happy posterity, who will not experience such abysmal woe and will look upon our testimony as a…
In Tennessee and Kentucky, religious freedom claims and COVID prevention plans are in conflict
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain the already contentious boundaries of religious practice versus public policy. In the same week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled New York may not restrict religious worship gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus, two…
With five weeks remaining in this bizarre year, churches hope to finish well fiscally
While stuffed Americans put away the Thanksgiving leftovers and turn to the online Black Friday shopping ritual, houses of worship are hoping their members will drop by their websites as well. As the year of COVID approaches its first end,…
What does the Supreme Court’s midnight COVID ruling really mean for religious liberty?
Has Amy Coney Barrett’s arrival on the United States Supreme Court changed the court’s perspective on houses of worship and COVID-19 restrictions? Or, were the restrictions imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo simply more draconian than restrictions in California…
We’re not ready for Advent, but it’s coming anyway
The arrival of Advent this year may be more important than it ever has been before. The definition of the word itself should make this reality clear: the “arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” We often speak in…
The church has a role to play in implementing COVID vaccine
With a vaccine for COVID-19 presumably coming sooner than later, the question of who will and who won’t choose to get the vaccine is looming large. And along with that are questions about the role of the church on matters…
Thank God for scientists who know how to create vaccines
Every day I thank God for men and women in the sciences who see the COVID-19 virus as the challenge of a generation and are doing all they can to find both a vaccine and a treatment. I believe the…
Central Seminary offers free Advent resource for congregations
A free Advent resource for congregations in this season of pandemic discernment is available thanks to a Lilly Endowment grant administered by Central Baptist Theological Seminary and Pinnacle Associates. “Preparing to Hear God’s Call” is a new downloadable Advent resource…
Searching for gratitude amid the chaos, calamity and confusion of 2020
Thinking about Thanksgiving from the sinkhole otherwise known as 2020 seems at once harder and easier than it has in years past. Unless you got married or had a baby or backed into a positive life-transforming event, you’ll probably agree…
The first thing you think when you get COVID-19
Here’s the first thing you think when you get COVID-19: “I wish I could turn back time.” If only I hadn’t gone … or stayed … or passed by … or did whatever it was that caused me to catch…