Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014 was the 50th anniversary of The Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The British musical invasion hit its first quality live prime time that day. It is also the day the Church in the United…
What kind of Baptists are we?
In the 1950s and 60s, the unofficial public theology of America was dominated by theologians associated with what we now call “the Protestant Mainline”. A public theology makes biblical teaching relevant to the pressing political, economic and social issues of…
Now that we have eliminated evangelism, let’s work on eliminating evangelical
In some moderate to progressive denominations it is all about the “E” word. Either these denominations vilify certain “E” words and seek to eliminate them from the proactive movement of the denomination, or they are embrace more deeply certain “E”…
Why I am so passionate about starting new congregations
Note: In a recent post I talked about the role of women in ministry regarding church planting. In this new post, I focus on my personal passion for starting new congregations that is foundational to urging a generation of women…
What do Millennials want from denominations?
Associated Baptist Press writer Jeff Brumley recently posted an article responding to research by the Public Religion Research Institute suggesting that “the rise of religious progressives and a conservative decline presents a challenge to those in the middle, including moderate Baptists.” …
Do we need denominations in the 21st Century?
Those of us who worked in denominational roles in past years often referred to ourselves as “denominational serpents” rather than denominational servants, questioning the motivations of the bureaucracies that employed us. Being part of a denominational organization and seeing its…
Thais of the heart
A Catholic nun and a Baptist minister walked into a Thai restaurant. They sat down and ordered Pad Thai. Over noodles and conversation they discovered that, long ago and some 500 miles away, they were connected to the same roots. …
Since it is not 1965, we have to do church different
[This is the second blog post in a series. The first was “Since it is not 1955, we have to do church different” found at http://www.baptistnews.com/blog/generational-differences/since-it-is-not-1955-we-have-to-do-church-different-2013-03-28/#.UWVSpsph7s4.] On Sunday night February 9, 1964 the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show…
What do you get when you focus on conflict? More conflict!
I’m sure you have probably heard the old adage that says Baptists are like alley cats. You know what you get when cats fight an alley on Saturday night? More cats. Conflict is similar to this because the more you…