No doubt Americans faced a bevy of mental health and relationship challenges before the COVID-19 pandemic. But the coronavirus, mounting political drama and escalating racial tensions have dragged the quality of well-being and relationships even lower for lay people and…
Faith-based groups unite to denounce Trump’s further gutting of legal refugee resettlement
An array of American faith-based organizations roundly condemned President Trump’s Sept. 30 decision to limit refugee resettlement in 2021 to no more than 15,000. That would be the lowest level on record, following a year that already brough an 80%…
Black and white Baptist groups work side-by-side in Louisiana
Two Baptist traditions — one predominantly Black, the other mostly white — are leaning into a long-standing relationship to collaborate in disaster recovery efforts in Lake Charles, La., the coastal city ravaged by Hurricane Laura in late August. Even with…
Atlanta church turns Fellowship Hall into COVID-safe learning center for children
It took Smoke Rise Baptist Church’s Rebecca Caswell-Speight less than two weeks to organize and open a space for more than two dozen public school children to participate in virtual learning while their parents are at work. Among other tasks,…
Pizzas el Buen Samaritano puts refugees to work while waiting
A Baptist minister is confronting pandemic-induced poverty, widespread despair and menacing drug cartels by putting refugees to work baking and selling pizza in Mexico. Lorenzo Ortiz, who directs three shelters for refugees in communities that border the U.S., has launched…
The ‘new sanctuary movement’ shifts gears in Trump context
There is something liberating for Serena Buckner about shielding immigrants from persecution by the federal government, even if it means running afoul of the law. What would be scary about the sanctuary movement instead is inspiring because it’s a way…
New book recalls story of challenging mandatory chapel at U.S. military academies
David Vaught went to the U.S. Military Academy in 1965, war raging at home and abroad, to defend the Constitution. Fueling his patriotism was a deep-seated Baptist faith imbued with a passion for the First Amendment. But those values led…
CBF-endorsed chaplain promoted to rear admiral
Navy Reserve Capt. Terry Eddinger will reach a career milestone Oct. 4 when he is promoted to the rank of rear admiral. This also will be a landmark for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as Eddinger is the first CBF-endorsed military…
Children’s minister has taken a long journey close to home
As the crow flies, Kasey Eller hasn’t wandered too far from her roots in Little Rock, Ark. “I actually teach at the same middle school I went to, so I haven’t gone very far,” she explained. But Eller, 39, has…