The church was full of birds; at least it was when I was there. In January 2005, for about a week, I went to mass at 5:00 every morning in the Catholic church across the street from the Mekong River…
Princeton Seminary removes name of slaveholding founder from its chapel
Princeton Theological Seminary announced Jan. 25 that it has changed the name on its campus chapel to avoid further association with a slaveholding professor. Samuel Miller was the second professor hired at the Presbyterian seminary. Born in 1769, he was…
No stranger to controversy, Alabama scholar critiques values of Trump, Southern culture
Wayne Flynt is a Baptist minister whose calling frequently lands him in controversy. “My role is to move the Kingdom of God one step closer, day by day,” says Flynt, 78, an acclaimed author and teacher on Alabama politics, Southern…
Pastor counsels churches to greet disabled with compassion, not exclusion or fear
Individuals with disabilities, and their families, are accustomed to poor treatment wherever they go – including church.
Baptist pastors gather in Boston to discuss ministry in divisive times
Close to 40 Baptist ministers gathered in Boston Sept. 17-20 for Baptist News Global’s second Conversations that Matter event. Centered in church venues on and around Harvard University, the gathering this year was themed “Pastoral Leadership in a Polarized and…
Powerful spiritual force needed to counter critical national, world challenges
Research shows that a slight majority of Americans believe religion can solve most of the world’s problems. According to Gallup, 55 percent of Americans hold that view. Broken down by politics, 71 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of Democrats express that…
What’s a Baptist? Seminary aims to help Baptists figure that out
Congregations across the country are struggling to remain, or even achieve, relevance in their communities. The struggle is just as difficult for seminaries seeking to serve those churches.
Baptist brokenness: Reconciliation and revolution
I am sick to death of decades of our ceaseless inability to avoid personal, spiritual and communal schism in our churches and ourselves. Truth to tell, however, 2,000 years of Christian history illustrate that the same Jesus Story that unites all Christ’s church often drives it apart. I’ve often teased that “Baptists multiply by dividing.” It’s not funny anymore. Never was.
At home in a foreign land
Last Sunday I taught a class at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., the second of a two-part conversation entitled, “Retelling the Jesus Story in a Post-Modern, Pluralistic, Post-Protestant-Privileged World: Who’s Listening?”The topic, sent in weeks earlier, was of…