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…
Loving our neighbor
By Claire Kermitz I always knew I was white, but it took packing up my car for a two-month-long mission immersion in Overtown in Miami for me to begin to realize that being white carries privileges beyond my control. I…
LifeWay apologizes to Asian-Americans
By Bob Allen The head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing arm apologized Nov. 6 for a 10-year-old Asian-themed vacation Bible school curriculum that critics said promoted racial stereotypes. “Ten years ago LifeWay’s Vacation Bible School material used racial stereotypes…
Christians protest use of Asian stereotypes
By Bob Allen More than 80 Asian-American Christians have signed an open letter to evangelicals calling for an end to racial stereotyping of Asians in religious literature. Christian leaders including Ken Fong, a California Baptist pastor who spoke at the…
Baylor social work school fetes trailblazers
By Daniel Wallace Baylor University’s School of Social Work recently recognized two daughters of the segregated South who served as forerunners for change and equality when they broke the color barrier at the Carver School of Missions and Social Work…