Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
New Baptist Covenant Uses Technology to Connect Cross-Country Gatherings
Technology will be a defining characteristic for the New Baptist Covenant gathering Nov. 17-19, which will bring potentially thousands of goodwill Baptists together across racial, ethnic and denominational lines in a...
Who Will Proclaim Hospitality to a Hostile World?
Editor's note: Below is part two of a two-part column on immigration and theology. Read part one here. Theology is by definition the result of an interaction between a faith experience and the intellectual and cultural...
Personally and Globally, We’re Enslaved to Debt
Some readers have written to say that Camila Vallejo is a member of the Communist Party of Chile, as if this should make my admiration for her evaporate. If we are to shun any involvement with communists, then we...
Pope Appoints New Ambassador to U.S.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has named Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano as the Vatican’s next ambassador to the United States. The widely expected appointment was announced on Wednesday (Oct. 19). Vigano,...
Wizards, vampires and other stuff I don’t get
Photo taken somewhere in Oxford in 2005. Could find no photos of wizards or vampires in my collection. By John Pierce Fantasy is a genre of books and movies that has never registered with me. Now before some of you...
Calling out the called
The subject of "calling out the called" is nothing new, but many observers are feeling a new urgency about it. Recent statistics are lacking, but an Alban Institute study in 2000 showed that in several mainline...
Janitor Accused of Killing Priest Faces Trial
CHATHAM, N.J. (RNS) Nearly two years after the Rev. Edward Hinds was found lying in a pool of blood in the rectory of St. Patrick Church, the troubled janitor charged in his murder is facing trial this week. Jose...
Pope, 84, Opts for Wheeled Platform at Mass
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI used a wheeled platform to move up the main aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica before Mass on Sunday (Oct. 16), in what his spokesman said was a measure to “reduce fatigue” on the...
After U.S. Kills Two Citizens, Religious Leaders Mum
The New York Times reported Oct. 1 that Anwar al-Awlaki, a man believed to have been a leading spokesperson for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and who was born in the United States, was killed by a Hellfire missile...
Immigration Issue Far More Than a Legal Problem
Editor's note: Below is part one of a two-part column on immigration and theology. Attending a recent screening of "Gospel Without Borders" and a discussion of its implications by some frontline participants...
Avoiding the Iceberg: 6 Tips for Sinking Churches
What if you knew your congregation were on a collision course with its demise? What would you do? Who would you tell? How would it change the way you lead? Would it affect your sense of urgency? Would it help you...
Activist U.S. Priest Arrested at Vatican
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Roman Catholic priest from Georgia who is on the verge of expulsion from his religious order for advocating for women’s ordination was arrested outside the Vatican on Monday (Oct. 17) and charged...
Driscoll’s Portland Church Met by Protesters
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Black-clad demonstrators gathered outside the Portland satellite branch of a Seattle megachurch on Sunday (Oct. 16) to protest the church’s stance on homosexuality. About 20 protesters lined up...
Police Ordered Out of St. Paul’s as Protesters Allowed In
LONDON (RNS) Scores of anti-corporate demonstrators invaded London’s historic St. Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday (Oct. 16), but police who tried to stop them were told to leave by church officials. The protesters—who were...
Fundamentalists Hint They Speak for God in Election
Southern Baptist preacher Robert Jeffress injected poisonous language into the public square, attacking the faith of one Republican presidential candidate and praising the faith of another. He called Mormonism a cult,...
Seven Ways to Change Attitudes about Immigration
A recent showing of the documentary "Gospel Without Borders" at Denver's Iliff School of Theology energized participants to "do more" through practical steps, which can be adopted by any congregation that wants to...
Archbishop Speaks Out Against Abuse in Zimbabwe
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams pulled no punches in his sermon to 15,000 Anglicans in a sports stadium in the capital of Zimbabwe on a recent Sunday. The archbishop is often accused of obscurity, usually...
A tiny taste of suffering
I have this thing about coffee: it makes me gag, or close to it. I wish coffee tasted as good to me as it smells in the morning. I wish I could walk around with a big cup from Starbucks and debate the nuances of flavor...
Catholic Bishops Distribute Baptist Immigration Documentary
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent to bishops and other Catholic leaders on Sept. 30 the newly released documentary on immigration produced by EthicsDaily.com, whose parent company is the Baptist Center for...
What Really Makes a Pastor a “Big Dog”
I know people who, like my neighbor's 5-inch-tall dog named Willy, think they are "big dogs" when they are not. And yes, I find them amusing. This column could be about barking church members, denominational leaders or...
Why Do So Many Believe God Doesn’t Love Them?
Maybe you will find this hard to believe, but, from years and years of paying attention to the fears and hopes that people carry deep in their hearts, I know it to be true: More people than you might guess are sure...