Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
BWA reporting upswing
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) stopped a six-year slide in contributions with a ten percent growth in gifts during 2018, but General Secretary Elijah Brown cautioned Executive Committee members gathered March 4-6 in...
Elitism and Lent
By John D. Pierce At hotel check-in time I am profusely thanked for being “elite” as well as loyal. A new rewards program has designated my status as “titanium” now, not merely “platinum.” Even the plastic key and...
Profiles in Goodwill: Aurelia Davila Pratt
Aurelia Davila Pratt is the lead pastor of Peace of Christ Church in Round Rock, Texas.
She Matters: Providing Hope, Opportunity to Women Globally
Women and girls suffer disproportionately from poverty, human rights violations and violence, which is why Canadian Baptist Ministries launched She Matters to help educate, equip and empower them.
Why Regular Bible Readers Tend to Become More Progressive
Whether you do or do not believe the Bible should be read literally is irrelevant. It’s whether you actually read it. Those who read it at least weekly – literally or not – tend to become more progressive in their views.
March 6, 2019
Portland Bans Discrimination Against Atheists, Other Nonbelievers (Religion News Service) ‘The Next Mormons’: Researchers Book May Help Explain Why Millennials are Leaving LDS Faith (ABC4) Religious, Nonprofit Leaders...
Allowing Sexual Abuse Survivors to Find Their Voice
Many strongly worded statements have been issued since the reporting of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse within Southern Baptist churches. But it’s time we listen to the victims, mostly women, and allow them to find their voice.
Behind the Bars | When Reading Emails, Cave Pastorem!
Pastors can be trusting souls, which makes them an easy mark for con men. If you receive an offer that seems too good to be true, remember the biblical command to be shrewd as snakes yet innocent as doves.
Social Safety Nets Protect Barely One-Third of World’s Children
Even though social safety nets have been shown to reduce poverty and inequality, only 35 percent of the world’s children have such protections available to them, a new report says.
March 5, 2019
A Mother Sought Sanctuary in a Church Basement in 2007. She’s Still There. (NBC News) Bible Verses and Swastikas Spray-Painted on Iowa City Church of the Nazarene (Press-Citizen) Justice Kavanaugh Signals Court Should...
Why You Need to Say the Other F Word in Church
When women, who represent more than half of the people in our churches, are educated, empowered and treated as equals, the church as a whole can prosper at significant rates. It’s all because of the other F word.
For Lent, Why Not Make This a Fantastic (Less Plastic) World?
Lent is often seen as a chance to break “bad habits.” You could use those 40 days of focused preparation for Easter by committing to go without single-use plastic.
3 Ways Outsourcing Will Affect Your Congregation
In a few years, many U.S. workers won’t have the standard 9-to-5 job and will be expected to earn a living seeking multiple paid opportunities. How will this trend affect your church?
March 4, 2019
Fractured After Vote Against LGBT Clergy, Weddings, United Methodists Face Possible Split (CNN) ‘We are Not Going Anywhere’: Progressive Methodists Vow to Fight Ban on Gay Clergy (New York Times) Southern Baptists Torn...
Remembering Fido
My wife paints pets, one of several ways she finds joy in expressing her considerable artistic talents. She's been working for some time on a triptych of large oil paintings depicting women who sit along the crowded...
After LGBTQ Decision, United Methodists at a Crossroads
With a difference of only 54 votes, United Methodists chose to continue to enforce its ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage, placing the divided denomination at a crossroads.
Look Back | 12 Ways You Can Begin to Observe Lent Now
Lent begins this year on March 6. While more Baptists are observing it, it’s still a foreign concept for many of them. These 12 ideas will show you and your church ways you can begin to observe Lent.
Protestant Pastors Affirm Ministry to Immigrants; Few Churches Engage
Although slightly more than three-fourths of U.S. Protestant pastors say they have a responsibility to minister to undocumented immigrants, few of their churches actually do so.
March 1, 2019
Supreme Court Seems Inclined to Retain Cross on Public Land (Religion News Service) Oklahoma Southern Baptists and GOP Leaders Criticize Bill to Abolish Abortion (Tulsa Beacon) Independent Report Finds New Allegations...
Waiting For Spring
By: Ginger Hughes He squatted down close to the dirt, playing with his elephant, tiger, and tapir, an uncommon mix to be sure. As he played, his eyes drifted to a small, green shoot poking through the dirt. “What’s...
Is It Time for a New Christian Movement?
Is it time for a new movement within Christianity? Evidence seems to indicate one is already underway and will be led by the emerging generation. Here are 6 facets of what that new movement might look like.