As I have time to take a breath this summer before I start my final year of seminary, I am anxiously awaiting the opportunity to start looking for church positions that would allow me to use this training I’ve almost…
Mom CBF, Dad SBC, I love you. Stop fighting.
Divorce hurts children. My grandparents’ divorce still hurts their children and their grandchildren to this day — even though both have been dead for years. Certainly, the pain has lessened in time, but the wound is still there, for many…
How long will women pastors be news?
It is time for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches to end the double standard of ordaining women to the ministry but refusing to allow them to serve. I am a Baptist female trying to be faithful to God’s call upon my…
When all else fails, you gotta support your kids
Two giants in North American Christian ministry died this week. One was well known across various Christian traditions. The other was not, but was no less a giant. Gordon Cosby of The Church of the Saviour fame died this week….
Reading Scripture is like rock climbing
Settling for the “clearest reading” of a Bible passage is not enough if doing so causes the Bible to contradict itself. In a recent interview with the New Voice Media Group (which includes Associated Baptist Press), I used rock climbing…
Amanda died the other day, but her singing continues
Almost four decades ago while I was serving as pastor of an inner city congregation near a Baptist seminary, I would often have seminary students visit to see if they could obtain some ministry experience as a volunteer with our…
Over and under
Overwhelmed and under qualified. That’s how I feel many times when I survey the things that fill my plate. Actually, I should say plates, because on any given day there are a number of plates that I juggle to keep…
Deacons in a Baptist church are a waste if . . .
Sarah looks at the ballot for deacons for the coming year in her congregation. Today in the Sunday worship services is the annual election of a new set of deacons. As she looks at the ballot, she wonders to herself,…
Asking Good Questions
“[And] they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Luke 2.46, NRSV) This month hundreds of thousands of students flock back to school ready to learn, ready to read, and ready to…