I had the difficult task of trying to teach the story in 1 Kings 18:20-38 to some elementary school age children. I wasn’t sure how to explain it both in a way that they would get it and in a…
When will there be enough women ministers?
Early this year in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, his colleague, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, was asked when there will be enough women on the Supreme Court. Her answer caused quite a stir as she quickly…
In Orlando killer’s hometown, religious leaders and LGBT people choose to build bridges
Members of four major religions — Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus — joined with the LGBT community for an interfaith gathering to share a message of love and compassion in response to the shooting.
It’s time for CBF to have the conversation
Many of you will recall that I served for eight years as president of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation in Atlanta from 2002 to 2010. Some smaller number of you will know that I left that perfectly well-paid position to…
‘Illumination Project’ seeks unity amid diversity in CBF
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Governing Board adopted a process June 21 to guide the 1,800-church Fellowship through controversy amid renewed attention to the organization’s 16-year-old policy against hiring LGBTQ people since the June 15 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in…
Speaking to the power of the queer experience to communicate the gospel
Perhaps the most gut-wrenching stage in the sadly predictable grief cycle following atrocities such as the one in Orlando just over a week ago, where a gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub killing 49 and wounding 50+ more, is…
U.S. religious leaders reexamine words after Orlando gay club massacre
Church leaders are reckoning with religious views often hostile to homosexuality after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub, with some wondering if they are contributing to breeding contempt.
Why conservatives won’t identify the Orlando shooting victims as LGBTQ+
There has been a concerted effort from conservative politicians, religious groups, celebrities, and even the media to erase LGBT people from the story.
Minister in Orlando church finds herself at center of response to shootings
Megan Currie was set to preach her first Sunday sermon June 12 at Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando, where she is serving as a summer intern. But a gunman’s murderous rampage, just over a mile away, kept her out…