By Bob Allen The interim global missions coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has endorsed a proposal before European Baptist leaders this week to relocate the International Baptist Theological Seminary from the Czech Republic to Amsterdam. The last two decades…
“God is big.”
She has never said why exactly she had to leave; she only admits that leaving her home country was necessary for her not her husband. Raised in an orphanage with no family made leaving the connections she had to her…
Live from the DNC: Power and vulnerability
Monday was Labor Day, and rather than starting their convention, the DNC chose to throw a big party for the city, filling Tryon Street (Charlotte’s Main Street) with vendors, bands, displays, free museum admission, and a festive atmosphere for all….
Live, from the DNC
The eyes of the world are on Charlotte, or so we are told. The Democratic National Convention is in town to nominate President Obama as their candidate for president. Credentials have been issued for 15,000 journailsts. CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, all…
Black Baptist group gathers in Atlanta
By Jeff Brumley About 20,000 delegates are expected in Atlanta Sept. 3-7 for the 132nd annual session of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest of the historically African-American Baptist denominations. Unlike some other Baptist groups, the…
Intergenerational mission
Randy Shepley What is your favorite church or denominational buzz word or phrase? There are so many: missional, free and faithful, purpose driven, emergent, traditional, contemporary. When overused, buzz words can begin to lose their meaning. Take, for example, one…
Missionaries urge shift in orphan care
By Jeff Brumley After a mission trip to Ethiopia in 2007, a group of Baptist pastors from East Texas launched a multi-church mission effort dedicated to everything from digging wells and latrines to working in schools and churches to train…
Anyone for a little ‘tarof’?
I confess that I miss the back fence neighbors we had in South Carolina. On each side of us, all you had to do was walk out the door and there was someone ready to offer a smile, a chat,…
Going to hell in a hand basket?
Just over a week remains for the month of Ramadan. I have had several opportunities to join with friends at area mosques to share in the iftar, i.e. breaking of the fast. I have had the joy of bringing along…
Do we really care about senior adults?
First, a disclaimer: I’ve never experienced life as an “old” person. Like many of my fellow young Americans, I do not ponder what life will be like at 80. Though firsthand experience of old age escapes me, startling statistics around…
Churches aid learning with food
By Bob Allen Before long, youngsters toting backpacks back and forth to school will be a common sight, but for about 40 students at Peck Elementary School in Greensboro, N.C., they will carry something more vital than just notebooks and…
Great answers to tough questions
Helms and I recently had an occasion to speak to a congregation for a Wednesday evening church gathering. This occasion was different than our normal speaking opportunities in that we had several of the young people from our neighborhood youth…