The role of women in the Southern Baptist Convention historically has been much more complex than narratives about female submission to a male-controlled denomination. “There were spaces in Southern Baptist life in which women sought and found agency, supported one…
Angry man with bulldozer severely damages Dellanna West O’Brien School in Liberia
It wasn’t too long ago that Eddie Gibson was visiting the Dellanna West O’Brien School in Liberia, ducking in and out of classrooms, talking and laughing with the teachers and students. He remembers working hard to get some ceiling tiles…
Revamped ‘settlement house movement’ fosters faith-based approach to social work, community engagement
Kendall Ellis is embarked on a quest to discern her vocation. She has joined other “settlers” who live at Good Neighbor House in Waco, Texas, spending a year planning and hosting meetings of neighborhood groups and encouraging other activities aimed at fostering relationships throughout the area.
WMU names new leader
Sandra Wisdom-Martin, leader of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas since 2010, has been named eighth executive director of the national women’s auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention founded in 1888. Wisdom-Martin, who served as women’s missions and ministries director for…
Leader of Southern Baptist women’s auxiliary stepping down
By Bob Allen Wanda Lee announced a one-year transition to retirement as executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union, auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, at the close of a WMU executive board meeting Jan. 11 at Shocco Springs, Ala. Lee,…
Former WMU leader Willene Pierce dies
By Bob Allen Willene Pierce, a former leader in Woman’s Missionary Union and the Baptist World Alliance, who in 1997 launched a full-time ministry with Native American women, died March 18. Pierce, 71, accepted Christ in 1952 during a revival…
Prank backfires at Baptist camp
By Bob Allen Five people were taken to a hospital and multiple medical units were dispatched to a Maryland Baptist campground in a hazardous materials incident that resulted from a prank. The July 23 incident at Camp Wo-Me-To near Jarrettsville,…