“The Good Shepherd” is a mosaic dating back to 425 AD that sits over the entrance to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. I have often wondered what Christianity would look like if the parables of Jesus found…
12 insights on navigating marriage and ministry
In her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott suggests, “A good marriage is where both people feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal.” However, I can readily identify with Winston Churchill’s assessment: “My most…
What the color chart teaches us about surviving in a ‘purple’ church
What follows is a real-life, real-time text report coming to me last Sunday morning from a young adult I know who was in attendance at one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in America. Please keep in mind, this was…
Pandemic exposed injustices, but those lessons are fading away, research shows
The realities of racial, economic and gender injustice exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic began to fade from consciousness only a year later, according to researcher Eileen Campbell-Reed. During the first two years of the coronavirus outbreak, the Baptist theologian and…
A thoughtful question at Bubba-Doo’s
Before I arrive at my favorite country store, I can know instinctively who I might see once I get there. All I’ve got to do is glance at my watch. Based on what time it is, I’ll have a decent…
Andy Stanley wants to refocus American evangelicals on Jesus more than politics
Critics say Andy Stanley doesn’t take political involvement seriously. He begs to differ. The author of a new book titled Not In It To Win It, Stanley is a man on a mission to challenge the American evangelical church to…
Annual report on Baptist women in ministry finds some gains but serious losses due to COVID
Women in ministry continue to feel blocked in their callings and ignored in their ministry settings because they are female, according to an annual report released June 21 by Baptist Women in Ministry. “The State of Women in Baptist Life,”…
Letter to the Editor: The importance of establishing best practices for pastoral searches
Letter to the Editor June 17, 2022 Dear Editor: In a 2014 article in BNG, writer Marion Aldridge penned an excellent piece on pastoral search committees. According to the article, “Even a tiny, troubled Baptist church can get 100 resumes.”…
Pastors dabble in brewing and mining to survive Zimbabwe’s burning economy
Father Chukucha cuts a lone figure as he circles the withering garden of his parish in Mberengwa, one of the poorest districts of the middle of Zimbabwe. While 250 miles away in another district, Pastor Noel Fengu, a Baptist minister,…