Death penalty opponents are pleading with two U.S. governors to halt the impending executions of a pair of mentally ill prisoners, including a Florida inmate scheduled for execution Feb. 23. “We pray that Gov. (Ron) DeSantis will consider the full…
Pastors ponder pandemic preaching problems — and how they’ve survived
Preaching has been radically different and difficult for Pastor Cheryl Adamson since March 2020, and not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The parallel scourges of police brutality, political subjugation and racial oppression faced by African Americans, and exacerbated by…
Award-winning TV journalist returns to thank Houston church for its friendship
When broadcast journalist Deanna Dewberry gave her testimony to a Bible study class at Houston’s South Main Baptist Church, it was the continuation of an ongoing story of friendship and faith that spans the years and the miles. Dewberry, a…
Here’s another thing they don’t teach pastors in seminary
The coronavirus is challenging the creativity of preachers as the pandemic continues to keep many churches in virtual spaces. Months of speaking into camera lenses, laptop screens or empty sanctuaries week after week leaves some clergy feeling deprived of a…
White churches must repent for racism, minister says, and worship services are a good place to start
White churches must use worship services to repent for the sin of racism in part by acknowledging complicity – active or passive, said Natasha Nedrick, associate minister at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Atlanta.
White minister tells George Floyd family, mourners: white Christians must fight racism
“Racism is the reversal of the revelation of God. Racism is not perfect love casting out fear, it is perfect fear casting out love.”
Couple shares of dicey exit from Peru as COVID-19 shuts borders | #intimeslikethese
A medical mission turned “Mission Impossible” when a Baptist couple from Houston tried to leave Peru as it closed its borders to combat COVID-19. “It was absolute, utter chaos,” Ruth Campos, 74, said of the scenes around Lima and its…
Physical recovery progressing a year after Harvey. Emotionally, not so much
On the outside, many of the Texas communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey last year appear to making a comeback. But on the inside, some survivors say, the emotional rebuilding is only just beginning.
Ministry unfolds ‘on the cellular level’ for those in Harvey’s path
Don’t ask a Houston resident how the city is doing. Trapped on top of rooftops or in shelters, or in homes with no power, it’s likely they know little more than their own situations. Clergy there are trying to make contact with their congregegants by phone and social media.