The Black church in America plays a crucial role in empowering its congregants amid the reality of white supremacy that causes a growing number of Black Americans to feel insecure, new research finds. Despite the election of Raphael Warnock as…
A letter to the white church in America
On April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., for leading a nonviolent demonstration for human rights. While he was being detained, he was given a newspaper that contained a statement written by eight white preachers….
No ifs, ands or butts: Binary thinking makes the Christian life hard to wear
Binary thinking is the butt crack of the body of Christ. Yes, I’m being cheeky, but the reality is that our Christian faith gets sucked into the bottom half of a sagging belief system sort of like when a person…
A second SBC pastor in Texas called Vice President Kamala Harris ‘Jezebel’
It turns out that East Texas pastor Tom Buck wasn’t the first Southern Baptist pastor in Texas to call Vice President Kamala Harris a “Jezebel.” Steve Swofford, pastor of First Baptist Church of Rockwall, Texas, located in the eastern suburbs…
The death penalty is dying a slow death; it’s time we pull the plug
The death penalty is dying in America. I cheer its death. Capital punishment has been abolished in 22 states. Ten of the remaining 28 states have not had an execution in a decade. According to the Death Penalty Information Center,…
Amid the hypocrisy of critiquing ‘unity,’ maybe we need a different goal: Cooperation
We need to debunk the argument that achieving “unity” means everyone will get their way. That’s not logically possible. This fallacious thinking is emerging as a primary conservative critique of the new administration in Washington, D.C. And once again, it…
Think you understand what it’s like to live on minimum wage? Here’s my story
Two weeks before I got married, I lost my job delivering pizzas because I had gotten three tickets for minor traffic violations over the previous two years. So when we got back from our honeymoon, I landed a job working…
‘God bless white America’: Why we need to overturn white racial mythologies
On June 17, 2015, a young white stranger walked into a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. (sometimes known as “Mother Emanuel” because of its role as one of America’s most historic Black churches). That…
America needs a ‘third Reconstruction,’ Barber tells new administration
America needs a “third Reconstruction,” William Barber II said in a homily at the virtual inaugural prayer service for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hosted by Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, Jan. 21. “Reconstruction” refers first to…
The end of Trump’s presidency does not end America’s root problem
Donald Trump’s presidency ended with the United States leading the world in the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He left Washington, D.C., as more federal troops were in Washington than at any other time since the Civil War,…
Some hard questions for reflection on this MLK Day
As we remember the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. during this season, I have a few questions for reflection for the American church. For you to properly interpret my intent, please understand that I ask these questions…
Kentucky seminary receives Baugh Foundation grant to start Institute for Black Church Studies
Supported by a $750,000 multi-year grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky will launch the Institute for Black Church Studies in Louisville, Ky., this fall. The institute will offer continuing education for Black church leaders and a…