Growing up female in a Hispanic Baptist family and community influenced by white Texas culture exposed Alyssa Aldape to the influences of colonialism, race and sexism on her faith and identity, she said during a recent webinar hosted by Baptist…
Virginia pastor shows that women can pray over NASCAR races too
Baptist minister Libby Grammer is slated to give the pre-race prayer Sept. 25 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, where she became the first woman ever to do so in early April. But Grammer’s motivation is less historical than it is…
Pastors, speak your truth while you still have time
“Make your peace with being honest in ministry today. Don’t wait until you’re older or find the ‘perfect’ church. If you aren’t honest today, you may never make it that far.” I was a youth minister when my pastor and…
Seek relationships and rest to be effective in ministry, Baptist World Alliance of Women told
Doing nothing is one of the main ways Karen Wilson, an Australian pastor and president of Baptist World Alliance Women, stays sharp for ministry, she told a virtual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance World Congress. “For me, doing nothing…
When it comes to shaming women, the SBC isn’t the only perpetrator among Christians
The Southern Baptist Convention has made headlines not only in Baptist circles but in secular publications in the days after this year’s annual meeting. In addition to Critical Race Theory, the media has been reporting on the SBC’s commitment to…
Women and men called to advocacy for women as ministers and leaders in ABCUSA
Lay and ordained women have made solid gains in leadership within the American Baptist Churches in the USA, but far too many continue to face obstacles within the denomination and in its churches, Patricia Hernandez told a virtual gathering of…
GAs Gone Bad: Baptist women you should be reading
Nearly 60 years have passed since Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., ordained Addie Davis to ministry. Yet somehow, Southern Baptists are still fighting about women in ministry. Saddleback Church in California recently set off a new round of…
Indiana church ordains transgender minister
Being the first known transgender person ordained by a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-affiliated congregation, Laura Bethany Buchleiter said she now can live fully into her calling to share the gospel in genuine and counter-cultural ways. “Where I would start is authenticity,…
What does history teach us about Saddleback Church and the SBC?
The prominent Southern Baptist (or maybe soon-to-be-former Southern Baptist) congregation Saddleback Church touched off a firestorm last weekend by publicly ordaining three women as pastors. While it’s unclear exactly how the Southern Baptist Convention will react, it’s going to be…