On the night of June 28, I posted to Facebook this status update from my hotel room in Greensboro, North Carolina: From Wednesday’s pre-assembly Baptist Women in Ministry celebration to the closing General Assembly communion service tonight, I’ve never felt…
Singing in the darkness
By Roger Lovette If you were to travel to New York and move down Broadway to 43rd Street you would find the Stephen Sondeim Theater. If you bought a ticket and found your seat you would be in for a…
Does your church look like a warehouse?
For the last 30 years, it has become popular for new churches to build their worship and ministry space to look like a warehouse or storehouse (or use an actual warehouse). The “Emergent” or “Emerging Church” and ultra contemporary church…
In + Out: a few thoughts on breathing
Some time ago, thanks mostly to the Comcast home page usually concerning itself with tracking the intricate and myriad movements of the Kardashians, I came across an article ranking the “most stressed out” countries in the world. In the study…
Historian seeks return to communion wine
By Jeff Brumley Jason Coker says most members of his Connecticut Baptist church are social drinkers in a culture where alcohol consumption is expected. “I tell interns who come up here if you are in a social setting and you…
I’m playing the race card
I blogged last year about the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case. Specifically, I shared my uneasiness with claims of “God’s plan” being part of the rhetoric. The verdict is in. I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t claim to…
Book challenges ‘gendered’ pulpit
By Bob Allen A “gendered” pulpit that defines what a preacher looks like as exclusively straight and male hinders women and members of the LGBT community from leadership in preaching and worship, theologian, author and Baptist pastor Angela Yarber says…
Cherry picking the Bible
By Thomas Whitley Neale Donald Walsch had a post on Huffington Posts‘s Religion blog recently titled “Buffet-Style Bible Believers” to which I’ve wanted to respond, but have had little time until now. The message of the post is nothing new….
Team seeks to avert SBC split on Calvinism
By Jeff Brumley Growing disagreements over the role of Calvinism will make the Southern Baptist Convention stronger, not weaker, as long as its focus remains on evangelism, members of an advisory team commissioned to study the topic told hundreds in…
Making (theological) sense of natural disaster
Like many, I’ve followed the story of the tornado-spawned tragedy in Oklahoma. The images called up memories of when an EF-4 tornado swept through Murfreesboro, Tenn., where I served as a pastor at the time. A young mother and her…
Mont. theology center has missional aim
By Jeff Brumley A Baptist-inspired project envisioned to inspire and retool pastors and congregations for the missional church environment is taking shape in Bozeman, Mont. The Yellowstone Theological Institute has secured $4.5 million in land and money pledges. While probably…
Calvinist study calls for trust, dialogue
By Bob Allen An ad-hoc task force appointed to study Calvinism’s impact on the Southern Baptist Convention says the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message is a sufficient guide for orthodoxy in the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Roman Catholics. “We…