Fellowship Southwest has changed its name to FaithWorks. Launched in 2017 as a project of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Fellowship Southwest has grown in scope and moved beyond its original identity as a network of CBF-related churches in Oklahoma, Texas,…
Vetoing our future
More than 3.8 million Texas kids qualify for the free or reduced-price lunch program during the school year. Government programs support their nutrition because we know hungry children do not learn as well as other children. They don’t grow as…
The time is now to preach justice, Blackmon urges CBF
“Now is the time” to proclaim a gospel that sets people free, activist and theologian Traci D. Blackmon told participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Dr. Emmanuel McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer luncheon June 25 in St. Louis. The annual event…
Judge denies injunction against ICE raids sought by Fellowship Southwest and others
A federal judge has ruled against Fellowship Southwest, the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and more than two dozen other plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the legality of immigration raids in churches and other sensitive locations. U.S. District Judge Dabney…
27 more religious groups sue to stop ICE raids at churches
Fellowship Southwest and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas are among 27 religious bodies that filed suit against the Trump administration Feb. 11 to stop ICE agents from having access to houses of worship for immigration raids. The multiparty lawsuit…
Churches can be healing resources for Native peoples
The church can be a healing resource for Native Americans whose cultures and ways of life are typically misunderstood if not outright ignored in the U.S. and Canada, activist Mariah Humphries said during a webinar hosted by Fellowship Southwest. Indigenous…
‘We know the difference between American Christianity and Jesus,’ Humphries says
Christianity for many Native Americans conjures memories of stolen land, oppressive boarding schools and the forced sterilization of women, Mariah Humphries said in the opening address at Fellowship Southwest’s Compassion and Justice Conference. “This is what Christianity represents for Native…
Fighting hunger is a core gospel idea, Everett says
Combating hunger isn’t optional for Christians who take the Bible and Jesus seriously, Jeremy Everett told participants in Fellowship Southwest’s Compassion and Justice Conference. Scripture makes clear the imperative to share Christ’s heart for those struggling with food insecurity and…
Look past fear and scarcity to embrace migrants, Carvalhaes urges
Bringing compassion and mercy to migrants means looking past the fear, resentment and scarcity mentality conservatives are bringing to the immigration debate, Cláudio Carvalhaes said during Fellowship Southwest’s Compassion and Justice Conference. “It means to continue to live with those…
‘If we weren’t powerful, they wouldn’t try to stop us,” Justin Jones says
Pro-democracy activists should have as much if not more confidence in the potential of their movement as authoritarian white supremacists do, Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones said during Fellowship Southwest’s Compassion and Justice Conference. “If we were not powerful, if our…
Proposed bill to help welcome asylum seekers hailed by human rights groups
Human rights groups are lining up in support of new legislation designed to help states and cities welcome asylum seekers and refugees into local communities. The Destination Reception Assistance Act, introduced in Congress July 30, seeks to expand the federal…
Fellowship Southwest receives Lilly grant to engage churches in border ministries
Fellowship Southwest has received a $1.25 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to expand its existing immigration ministries across the next five years. Each year for the next five years, Fellowship Southwest will recruit churches along the U.S.-Mexico border to…