In my work as a pastor, I find we often fear what we do not know or understand. But when what we fear goes from being an abstract idea to a person with a name, a face and a story…
Finding inspiration from Fannie Lou Hamer when freedom is under assault
This weekend, I have found strength and solidary in the words of Galatians 5: “Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit.” In this same chapter, we are told that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free. All…
Here’s what pastors said this Sunday in churches not celebrating the Supreme Court’s abortion decision
While conservative evangelical and Catholic churches across America celebrated Friday’s Supreme Court ruling rescinding a federal right to abortion care, sermons and prayers in other congregations ranged from lament to outrage to calls for simply getting along with each other….
This progressive church reviewed its history and discovered it hadn’t ‘shown up’ very often on racial issues
Anyone entering the sanctuary of Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., for the first time will inevitably leave talking one thing above all — the beauty of the stained-glass windows on all sides of the English Gothic-style worship space. Look…
When pastors change churches during a global pandemic, it takes creativity and perseverance
That call weekend in September 2020 was one Matt Marston said he will never forget — and not only because it resulted in him becoming the senior minister of First Baptist Church in Athens, Ga. “Because of all the precautions…
Live boldly, even if the world thinks it’s foolish, Birdwhistell preaches
While planning for tomorrow might appear to be foolish in the face of COVID-19, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship must step forward in bold faithfulness, speakers and preachers said during CBF’s virtual General Assembly June 25-26.
Cooperative Baptists trek to border for prayer, advocacy outside migrant child care center
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship subsidiary organized a weekend vigil outside a former Walmart in Brownsville, Texas, re-purposed as the country’s largest migrant child care center to pray for children separated from their families while seeking asylum in the United States….
Growing movement pushing pastors to ‘get real,’ vulnerable with congregations
It takes a lot of guts and humility to be vulnerable. Just look at the New Testament account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, Mary Alice Birdwhistell said. “Since feet were the primary mode of transportation, think how dirty they…