By Jeff Brumley “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Thus read the sign recently in front of Madison Avenue Baptist Church, a New York City congregation whose pastor is all about convincing folks…
What does the Bible say about women in ministry?
By Terry Maples God created males and females as equals. Adam and Eve enjoyed a partnership of equals until the fall. Male domination evolved and led to broken relationships between men and women. So, I believe we can surmise that…
Why I advocate for women in ministry
By Terry Maples I grew up in a conservative Southern Baptist home in rural Alabama. At church I was emphatically taught God cannot and would not call a woman to vocational ministry. The reason offered for this belief was “It’s…
Vivian Nielsen, former DC Baptist leader, dies
By Bob Allen Vivian Nielsen, 86, a past president of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention and leader in Washington’s Calvary Baptist Church, died Jan. 4 at Greenspring Village retirement community in Springfield, Va., after a battle with cancer. In…
Former DC Baptist woman leader dies
By Bob Allen Vivian Nielsen, 86, a past president of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention and leader in Washington’s Calvary Baptist Church, died Jan. 4 at Greenspring Village retirement community in Springfield, Va., after a battle with cancer. In…
CBF nominee termed natural choice
By Bob Allen Parties involved in the nomination of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s next executive coordinator termed the choice of Texas Baptist leader Suzii Paynter an embodiment of core values of inclusiveness that have shaped the moderate Baptist movement since…
CBF nominates woman leader
By Bob Allen Suzii Paynter, the first woman to serve as director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission, has been nominated as third executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. If elected, Paynter would join Sharon…
Book shares struggles of Baptist women
By Jeff Brumley Growing up Baptist, Jennifer Harris Dault says her calling into the ministry was clouded by comments and assumptions along the way that the pulpit was no place for women. “I had this feeling as a kid that…
Trailblazing Baptist woman turns 100
By Jeff Brumley It was a cold winter’s night in 1971 when 6-year-old Monica Phillips developed a terrible earache on a family visit to Abilene, Texas. “I had these earaches fairly often and they were quite painful,” Phillips recalled. But…