By Jeff Brumley Jim Somerville pastors a Baptist congregation in Virginia that, thanks to the Internet, includes people living in Austria, India and Slovakia. And now, he learned recently, some guy in Iowa. “He said ‘I tune in online and…
LifeWay won’t sell ‘womanhood’ book
By Bob Allen A new book by an author who for one year kept her vow to follow literally every instruction for women found in the Bible won’t be sold at LifeWay Christian Stores. Rachel Held Evans, whose anticipated book A…
Mercer launches journalism experiment
By Bob Allen A historically Baptist college in Georgia is launching a cutting-edge experiment that industry experts say could provide a model to help save local journalism in America. This week the New York Times business section profiled the new…
Churches lag in social media oversight
By Jeff Brumley Sheryl Fancher likes to tell social media nightmare stories that make ministers cringe. Like the one about a pastor who posted derogatory remarks about church members on his Facebook page without realizing his account was set to…
Pastors call for Thomas Nelson boycott
By Bob Allen A group of Cincinnati pastors and church leaders is boycotting Thomas Nelson Publishers over David Barton’s book The Jefferson Lies, saying it glosses over the third president’s racism and justifies his ownership of slaves. Black and white…
Social media bigger deal than survey says
By Jeff Brumley A survey’s finding that few Americans use social media to connect with churches and other religious groups has those who conducted the research astonished. “We were a little bit surprised,” Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public…
Prof: Kitty Wells wasn’t a feminist
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary professor and country-music devotee is challenging eulogies portraying recently deceased singer/songwriter Kitty Wells as a feminist icon. Russell Moore, dean of the school of theology and vice president for academic administration at Southern…
‘The Blind Side’ removal brings backlash
By Bob Allen LifeWay Christian Resources’ recent decision to no longer stock The Blind Side DVD on bookstore shelves has struck a nerve with Christian authors. Rachel Held Evans, who was asked by Thomas Nelson Publishers to remove the word…
Land’s rebuke termed damage control
By Bob Allen Richard Land’s formal reprimand and cancellation of his weekly radio program apparently had more to do with damage control than any violation of on-air ethical standards, a religious broadcasting executive said in a World Magazine web article…
Religious websites most prone to hackers
By Bob Allen Online religion may be good for your soul but dangerous for your computer, according to a new report. A report by Symantec, a company that sells computer-security software, rates websites devoted to religion or other ideologies the ones most…
Richard Land cries media bias
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist leader Richard Land is blaming media bias for controversy over his recent remarks accusing black leaders and President Obama of using Trayvon Martin’s death to stimulate African-American voter turnout in the upcoming presidential election. Richard…
When does it make sense for a church to produce its own material?
By Jim White Producing study materials for a church is a huge undertaking that diverts staff time, energy and attention away from other assignments. Making that decision, then, should be done carefully. When does it make sense for a church…