Ministers took one to the chin this month when Gallup released a poll placing them in the middle of the pack of professions trusted by the public. The polling organization asked Americans who they consider to be the most honest…
Black pastors challenge their white colleagues’ silence
“We need to hear you say clearly in the pulpit and in the streets that white supremacy and racism is wrong,” a black pastor told a group of white colleagues following the police shooting of an unarmed, African-American man. “And no more generalizations. It has to be specific.”
Dallas CBF pastor stands with black clergy protesting police shooting of African-American man
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor in Dallas criticized white churches for not speaking up alongside blacks demanding justice in the killing of an African-American man in his own apartment by a white police officer. On Sunday George Mason, senior pastor…
Gospel politics in the midst of social turmoil
Jesus came preaching the good news of the kingdom of God that is at hand. That good news threatened political leaders who failed to attend to the common good and it brought blowback from religious leaders who minded the status quo. Preaching the whole gospel will do that in any age.
Working for justice is path to peace in 2017, spiritual leaders say
Scrolling through the list of celebrities who died in 2016 seems to take, depressingly, forever. There also were the personal losses and, for many, a political and cultural landscape that seems upside-down. And those are just the personal and domestic…
As racial healing seems elusive, New Baptist Covenant plans next summit
Former President Jimmy Carter, who has long put religion and racial reconciliation at the center of his life, is on a mission to heal a racial divide among Baptists and help the country soothe rifts that he believes are getting…
People-pleasing pastors risk health, families and callings
Besides preaching and visiting the sick, too many ministers also are skilled at denying themselves vacation days, putting in extreme time at the office and scaling back on family time. “We are well known for overworking,” said Merianna Neely Harrelson,…
Advent story filled with drama and stress, says minister
By Jeff Brumley Many who observe Advent struggle finding balance between its call for quiet joy and anticipation in a culture exploding with revelry and unbridled consumerism. That tension is one of the reasons ministers of formation have jobs. But…
Baptist leaders eye hopes, fears for church in 2015
By Jeff Brumley Some congregational coaches hope to see a return to Christ-centered values in the American church, while some Baptist scholars are eager for Christians in the United States to hear and feel the pain suffered by persecuted counterparts…