The 40 in the room sit entranced. Most of them are children, and they unusually are silent. The young adults are rapt. Our Freedom School site has always channeled the energy and inspiration of the Civil Rights movement for our…
Conference marks 200 years of missions
By Bob Allen A three-day conference in November will celebrate 200 years of Baptist missions and explore the lasting impact of Ann and Adoniram Judson, the first U.S. Baptist missionaries to serve on foreign soil. “The Judsons: Celebrating 200 Years…
Sis, Tata or Mum Nell
They call me “Tata.” That is what many francophone people call their aunts. I am not their aunt, however. They are Senegalese after all, and I am American. However, we would all say that race, nationality, language nor culture changes…
Mission trip transforms Kentucky church
By Emily Holladay When Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., sent its first mission team to paint a Karen youth hostel in Thailand in 2001, Annette Ellard and her husband, Steve Clark, began an adventure beyond their wildest dreams….
Why I am so passionate about starting new congregations
Note: In a recent post I talked about the role of women in ministry regarding church planting. In this new post, I focus on my personal passion for starting new congregations that is foundational to urging a generation of women…
A tale of two Chucks
What a couple of agnostics taught me about congregational business. I have two friends who are particularly dear to me, both named Chuck. I first met The Chucks, as I call them, a few years ago in a writers’ group…
Experiencing koinonia — cross culturally
This could probably be two posts in the least, maybe three. But I will limit it. You see, I have experienced “koinonia.” I realize that is a thoroughly “religious” word. I realize it doesn’t mean much to many people outside…
Youth trip boosts Miss. Delta town
By Jeff Brumley No one expected a vacation Bible school run by a visiting Baptist youth group to be a catalyst for racial healing in Shaw,Miss. Yet, by all accounts that’s just what the June visit by 34 youngsters from Houston’s South Main…
Church ‘eviction’ sparks controversy
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist church planter in New York City said he never intended the firestorm of criticism that started with him writing a blog about losing the congregation’s meeting place after promoting a sermon series about sexuality….
Missions comes full circle for ABC
By Bob Allen Two hundred years after the first American Baptist missionaries arrived in Burma, American Baptist Churches USA and the Myanmar Baptist Convention look forward to a new chapter of cooperation and collaboration in an altered missionary landscape. Yam…
Mission trip provides religious liberty lesson
By Bob Allen Less than a month after police in the former Soviet state of Georgia intervened to rescue peaceful gay-rights protestors from a religious mob, Baptist young adults from the United States stood alongside Georgian Baptists to speak up…
Mission trip provides religious liberty lesson
By Bob Allen OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (ABP)—Less than a month after police in the former Soviet state of Georgia intervened to rescue peaceful gay-rights protestors from a religious mob, Baptist young adults from the United States stood alongside Georgian Baptists…