Earlier this month, Alexander Lang’s blog post “Departure: Why I Left the Church” lit up clergy social media. To date, it has garnered north of 380,000 views. The day it hit, I saw it on the Facebook feeds of three…
Who exactly is the pastor?
There has been significant response to Alexander Lang’s post, “Departure: Why I Left the Church.” I know of two pieces published in Baptist News Global – Cody Sanders’ “I Left the Pastorate While Still Loving It” and Tyler Tankersley’s “Why…
Travis Avenue Baptist Church pastor resigns on Sunday after arrest on Friday
Drew Erickson, lead teaching pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, resigned suddenly March 5 after he was arrested in Tarrant County two days before on suspicion of carrying an unlawful weapon and driving while intoxicated with…
Distinguished preaching professor says he was fired from Southwestern Seminary; administrators say he quit
A Southwestern Seminary professor who shared a platform with disgraced former seminary President Paige Patterson this spring either has been fired or has resigned, depending on who’s telling the story. David Allen, who served 18 years as distinguished professor of…
They spoke out against the Capitol insurrection; one year later, they’re no longer pastors
Brandon Long wanted the doctrine of “redemption” to be the hill he would die on. Instead, the doctrine of evangelical loyalty to Donald Trump was his demise as a pastor. In 2018, Long and his wife experienced a divine call…
7 signs it’s time to move on
As a full-time pastor for more than 25 years, I’ve never been without employment — until now. In December 2021, I stepped down as the senior pastor of my church without another ministry position or job of any kind. Leading…
Why church musicians become scapegoats in anxious church systems and how to make personnel changes gracefully
A church musician colleague and friend sat in my office across from my desk and told me this story. I still remember his halting words and his ashen face. He had been called to a new music ministry in a…