The Christianity introduced to Northeast India by Baptist missionaries in the 19th century inspired advances in education, communication and ethnic cohesion but also left descendants coping with fundamentalism and patriarchy that persist today, experts on faith in the region said…
First American woman appointed a missionary beat the system by funding herself
In 2013, Reid Trulson was researching the history of missions in the American Baptist Churches USA when he stumbled across the name of a Charlotte H. White, a previously unremembered 19th century missionary. Then serving as executive director of ABCUSA’s…
Meditating with Buddhists and other Asian lessons
During the 1988-89 school year, our family lived in Fukuoka, Japan, on a sabbatical leave from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. During that time, we served as Mission Service Corps volunteers sponsored by what was then called the Foreign Mission Board…
Blessed to be a blessing, globally
“Blessed to be a blessing.” I’ve heard it a million times. You have, too, if you go to the kind of church that recycles catchy slogans (which is most churches). Sure, it’s a cliche. But I like it. Because it…
There’s a third candidate for SBC president you may not have heard about
Easily overlooked in the midst of a presidential race that already has featured several unusual twists is the presence of a third, lesser-known candidate to lead the Southern Baptist Convention. Robin Hadaway does not come to the race with the…
Against the odds, the SBC is experiencing a double-digit increase in giving
On the heels of a global pandemic and amid its own multi-faceted schism, the Southern Baptist Convention is experiencing something few could have predicted: Financial gifts to the SBC for the 2021-2022 fiscal year are up — way up. The…
Facing schism and decline, United Methodist Women rebrands as United Women in Faith
United Methodist Women, a venerable Methodist women’s mission agency for more than 150 years, announced March 3 that it has rebranded itself United Women in Faith in hopes of attracting new, younger members and surviving the denomination’s decline and fall….
9/11 at 20: The ongoing choice between fear and love
On Sept. 11, 2001, I was flying into Cairo with my photographer partner to do a magazine coverage on that vast, ancient city. Gazing at the Giza pyramids from the air on approach, we had no clue about the horror…
Our vision of missions should shift from Matthew 28 to John 21
Over the more than a half century of my participation in Christian cross-cultural missions, I have noticed a gradual shift in missions strategy. This change is both theologically sound and morally significant. It is a shift to prioritize John 21…