Whenever Brandon Hudson speaks publically about the doctrine of the incarnation, he does so cautiously. Growing up Baptist, leading youth and preaching have taught him to tread lightly around the topic of Jesus’ human nature. Why this — or any…
Alcoholics Anonymous wrestles with its spiritual roots, as reformers say group has lost core values
BEVERLY, Mass. (RNS) — For Alcoholics Anonymous to continue helping addicts find freedom in sobriety, the 75-year-old organization has to reclaim its spiritual roots. That’s the message coming from reformers who say the group has drifted from core principles and…
Free at last, but what now? Churches an help former inmates enter new life
Men just released from state prisons in Huntsville, Texas, arrived by bus in Fort Worth and gathered at the Tarrant County Probation Office. But before they re-entered the free world, they heard straight talk from someone who understood what they…
Experts say debt, public opinion and other factors boost chances for depression in clergy
Bryan Hatcher was a Baptist pastor once, so he gets it when ministers buckle under the strain of long work weeks, budget pressures and that feeling of constantly being in a fish bowl. And because he has since provided…
Friends say faith came first for internationally-acclaimed pianist Van Cliburn
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — News reports of Van Cliburn’s Feb. 27 death extolled the internationally acclaimed pianist as one of history’s greatest classical musicians. Friends at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort, Worth, Texas, however, remember him as a great…
Exhibit of biblical imagery highlights blacks’ connection to Scripture
NEW YORK (RNS) — A new exhibit at New York’s Museum of Biblical Art makes one point clear and inescapable: Biblical narratives and imagery have been an underlining constant in the life of African-American Christians. From the days of slavery…
For Hollywood couple, ‘The Bible’ miniseries is a ‘labor of love’
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Before actress Roma Downey met her husband, her Touched by an Angel co-star Della Reese had a bit of advice. “Baby, you need to pray that God will choose a partner for you,” Downey recalled Reese…
Some aging churches are mergering with younger, multi-cultural congregations in order to stay alive
Things were looking bleak for Orange Grove Baptist Church and its aging membership when Greg Shoemaker arrived as its pastor about a year ago. Located just north of Pascagoula, Miss., the congregation and community around it had been hit hard…
The gospel roots of the ‘Godmother of rock ‘n’ roll’
(RNS) — Before Elvis and Chuck Berry and Johnny Cash. Before Aretha and Whitney and Beyonce. Before the blues met gospel and conceived rock ‘n’ roll, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The first gospel superstar, Tharpe was a guitar hero…