Joel Osteen is an ecclesiastical phenomenon, an American, evangelical, charismatic, postmodern, megachurch, media savvy, health/wealth/motivational speaker, gospel-preacher phenomenon. A 59-year-old who doesn’t look it, Osteen seems made for the media — razor thin, self-effacing, pragmatic and guileless to a fault,…
Lifeway’s new headquarters is much smaller, designed for collaboration, not offices
In the span of six years, Lifeway Christian Resources has downsized its headquarters twice, moving from a 15-acre campus with nine buildings to its newest intended location that will be 46,000 square feet — about the size of an average…
Dis-membered denominations: Forgetting who we are
In 1990, in God’s Last and Only Hope: The Fragmentation of the Southern Baptist Convention, I wrote: Growing up Southern Baptist once seemed relatively easy. Elaborate denominational programs created a surprising uniformity among an otherwise diverse and highly individualistic constituency….
Vocal critic of SBC leadership leaves denomination over social justice agenda and Litton
One of the most conservative public voices within the Southern Baptist Convention announced Jan. 4 that his Georgia church has left the SBC. Josh Buice is pastor of Pray’s Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, Ga., and founder of an online…
In a reversal of a current trend, a Baptist seminary creates a Methodist House of Studies
In an era when many non-Baptist seminaries are creating specific space for Baptist ministers in training, a Baptist seminary is creating space for Wesleyan minsters in training. Baylor University announced Nov. 18 the endowment of a new academic chair that…
Looking for a religious exemption to a COVID vaccine mandate? Most denominations won’t help you
Unless you’re a member of a Dutch Reformed church or a Christian Science church, making a claim for a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine as a Christian is going to be hard to prove. According to research by Vanderbilt…
Re-receiving the gift of inclusive liberty, with help from Pope Francis
This past weekend, I offered Baptist ecumenical reflections on Pope Francis’s most recent encyclical “On Fraternity and Social Friendship” (Fratelli Tutti) on the program of the Hearth for the Human Family conference sponsored by the Focolare Forum for Dialogue and…
Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again
For the second year, denominational annual meetings are being derailed and reworked due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will have an urgent effect on the United Methodist Church, which already had delayed from last year a critical vote on the…
What should it cost a denomination to control governance of a university?
How much money should a denominational body have to give to a university in return for the ability to control that university’s governance? Turns out, not much in many cases. As state, regional and national denominational bodies have faced declining…