I love the city. I first fell in love with metropolitan life as a 20-something pastor in San Francisco. Now, years later, while I still retreat to the mountains or desert or ocean for some extra peace and inspiration, “urban”…
An anomaly in the pulpit
“What’s in a name?” the guest preacher asked as the sermon began. The message was taken from the Lukan account of the Gerasene man suffering from demon possession, the man who was called Legion. The reverend addressed the biblical significance…
Beginner’s mind
Tomorrow morning I’m going to slip a clerical robe over my shoulders and drape a green liturgical stole around my neck. I will line up behind the choir, along with the other pastors and liturgists, process up an impossibly long…
FBC Washington elects pastor
By Bob Allen Members of the First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., voted Dec. 6 to call Julie Pennington-Russell as senior pastor. Pennington-Russell, long active in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is the 19th senior pastor in the church’s 213-year history and the…
Ms. Pennington-Russell goes to Washington
Editor’s note: This story was updated Dec. 3 based on new information. It also corrects errors about the distance from the White House and clarifies that Harry Truman attended the church but was not a member. Baptist News Global regrets…
Julie Pennington-Russell resigns as pastor of FBC Decatur
By Bob Allen A pioneer among Southern Baptist women in ministry and early supporter of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is stepping down as pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. Julie Pennington-Russell, announced April 29 in an open letter…
A Poem: Good Friday with the Methodists
I estimate forty of us— spread like thin gravy over the dim sanctuary. My own Baptist flock honors the noontime crucifixion, so tonight my son and I are free to join these Methodists who have hired four Gregorian chanters from the…
FBC Decatur, Ga., elects openly gay deacon
By Bob Allen A flagship Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation in Atlanta voted Nov. 23 to approve a slate of deacons including an openly gay man in a committed, same-sex relationship. The vote followed a three-week sermon series on the Bible…
Monks and mediation
By Julie Pennington-Russell Seventy-five miles north of Santa Fe there’s a high desert canyon so ancient, so primordial, I half-expected to see pterodactyls in the sky instead of hawks as I steered my rental car along 13 miles of single-lane…