Fred Luter, immediate past president of the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention, says he mistakenly believed the nation had turned a corner when it elected a black president. The first African-American president of the Southern Baptist Convention says he believes…
Black, white ‘First Baptist’ congregations unite after 150 years
By Bob Allen Two historic congregations that went separate ways after the Civil War worshipped for the first time in more than 150 years as a unified First Baptist Church of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Nov. 29. First Baptist Church at 200…
Kentucky Baptists elect black president
By Bob Allen The Kentucky Baptist Convention elected its first African-American president Nov. 10 at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Ky. Kevin Smith, teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville and an assistant professor of Christian preaching at…
It’s the economy, Christian
By Bob Allen Four million black people were fired in 1865, when President Lincoln and the federal government abolished slavery, a pastor told a packed house at the first summit meeting of a new coalition of churches in Louisville, Ky.,…
Are you hearing me?
By Kyle Henderson My mother asked, “What’s that?” She was speaking to Dr. Warren Pulich, a renowned ornithologist and our teacher. He could identify almost any bird by sound. It was amazing. We could stand quietly in the woods and…
Pastor defends mass baptism, with some regret
By Bob Allen The pastor of a Georgia Baptist church at the center of controversy over a mass baptism on a public high school football field says he regrets not informing the local school board in advance, but he believes…
Racially diverse nation isn’t mirrored in most religious groups
By Robert Dilday The American Baptist Churches U.S.A. ranks in the top 10 of the most racially diverse religious groups in the United States, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. But with 73 percent of its…
Five grieving mothers & the problem of race
I’m finishing a fine novel called All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr in which one of the characters repeats this mantra: Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever. I feel…
Holy smoke! Did Baptist News Global spot a ghost in that BBC barbecue report?
As you would expect, I get lots of email about religion- news stuff. That tends to happen when you’ve been in the religion-columnist business — in one form or another — since 1982. All that old snail mail on dead-tree…