By Greg and Helms Jarrell We’re remembering the Freedom Summer of 1964 this year, 50 years later. During those momentous times in U.S. history, a broad group of organizations worked together to break the tyranny of the Jim Crow laws…
The taller I become….
We’re remembering the Freedom Summer of 1964 this year, fifty years later. During those momentous times in US history, a broad group of organizations worked together to break the tyranny of the Jim Crow laws in Mississippi. Their primary goal…
Professor says Michael Sam is no Jackie Robinson
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist pastor and seminary professor says Satan is pleased with comparisons being drawn between Michael Sam, the first openly gay football player drafted by the NFL, and Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color…
Alliance Baptists address racial justice, reconciliation in annual gathering
By Relma Hargus The Alliance of Baptists went north for its annual gathering this year, taking its theme of racial and economic justice to the church where in 1926 Hilda Libby Ives became the first woman ordained as a Christian…
For Lent, Baptist dons orange prison garb for poor and imprisoned
By Jeff Brumley Kent McKeever’s choice of Lenten sacrifice has already generated enough stares and media scrutiny to last him a lifetime. But that’s OK, he jokes, given the trade-off: a lot less laundry to do until Easter. “It’s very…
Raleigh church finds ‘very Baptist’ way to be multicultural
By Jeff Brumley Janet Pan firmly believes there will be no segregation in heaven, which may be no surprise from the pastor the Chinese Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C. “Heaven is filled with Chinese and Africans and people of all…
In sermon and blog, preacher laments ‘lily white’ Jesus
By Jeff Brumley As both a writer, comedian and a pastor, Susan Sparks knows how to work an audience and a congregation. And whether on stage or behind the pulpit, she also knows how to raise eyebrows and a temper…
Past CBF leader praises SBC’s racial progress
By Bob Allen A past moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and pioneer in black church relations in the Southern Baptist Convention prior to a 1991 schism attended the recent meeting of a task force on race appointed by SBC…
The spiritual test the church is failing
By Trey Lyon A recent study reported last week in ABPnews pointed to a growing gap in racial attitudes and experiences in the United States. This report was deeply disturbing, but not all that surprising, and I suspect the predominantly…
Study says race perception gap widening
By Bob Allen Fifty years after Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech envisioned unity between blacks and whites, a new study finds a growing gap in racial attitudes and experiences in America. “We do not live in a…
Is ‘Duck Dynasty’ the next SBC cause?
By Bob Allen A year after targeting the Boy Scouts for dropping their ban on openly gay youth, Southern Baptists meeting June 10-11 in Baltimore may have found a new cause célèbre in a reality TV show star suspended by…
Faith leaders protest race in sentencing
By Bob Allen Local and national Baptists are among 27 evangelical leaders signing a Nov. 21 letter on behalf of an African-American man condemned to death after his sentencing jury was told he was likely to be a future danger…