By Bob Allen An invitation to likely Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson to speak at this summer’s Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference has been withdrawn after it was criticized in Baptist blogs. Pastors Conference President Willy Rice said in a…
SBC Pastors Conference criticized for inviting non-Baptist presidential hopeful to speak
By Bob Allen A two-day preaching conference held each year prior to the Southern Baptist Convention once criticized as too narrow is now being scrutinized for inviting speakers who are non-Baptists. Recent Baptist blogs have questioned an invitation to this…
From ABP to BNG, Baptist journalists remember past, embrace future
By Jeff Brumley The toxic denominational atmosphere that gave birth to Associated Baptist Press a quarter century ago is fading into the mists of history. However, its modern descendent — Baptist News Global — still faces daunting modern challenges. Both the bested…
Baptist News Global/Associated Baptist Press: from painful birth to faithful service
Congratulations to David Wilkinson and Baptist News Global ‘s staff and Board of Directors as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of Associated Baptist Press in Nashville on Monday. We Baptists must always be cognizant of the critical importance of a…
Church shares racism with police forces, says minister and former cop in book
By Jeff Brumley Baptist minister Terrell Carter felt he could identify when a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., last August. “I know what it’s like to be racially profiled,” said Carter, who is African-American. “But on…
SBC controversy reverberates for second, third generation ‘exiles,’ book says
By Bob Allen Many young ministers growing up in Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches have no frame of reference for the great “split” they hear seminary professors and pastors recall with a sense of pain and loss, yet they find themselves…
Choosing sides, teams or labels in the CBF serves no purpose
A recent BNG article reported a seminary professor’s comments on the “moderate” label for some in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. In the 1990s I was a student at Southern Seminary in Louisville. The Southern Baptist Convention decided to create a…
From ‘I Do’ to disfellowship: Why the Southern Baptists kicked this church out over a same-sex wedding
Today, it is my honor to host the Rev. Dr. Ellin Jimmerson, the first Southern Baptist minister (and perhaps only) to perform a legal same-sex wedding. And in Alabama no less! Having grown up in the Huntsville metro area, I…
Southern Baptist florist at center of marriage debate
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist grandmother and small business owner in Washington State is the newest face in America’s culture war over gay marriage. A state judge ruled Feb. 18 that 70-year-old Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in…