Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Clergy Sex Abuse Arrest Stuns South Carolina Baptist Church
The day Southern Baptist Convention leaders discussed in Nashville, Tenn., how well the nation's second-largest faith group is handling the problem of clergy sex abuse, a congregation in South Carolina was shocked to...
‘Amazing Grace’
"Amazing Grace," the story of William Wilberforce's effort to abolish slavery in the British Empire, delivers everything you want: solid script, outstanding performances, clever wit, tight drama, inspiring story. The...
Our Moveable Feast
With Ash Wednesday behind us and Jerusalem before us we are pilgrims once more. The traditions of the Church have nudged us out of places of comfort and put us on yet another journey to Jerusalem in hopes of learning...
SNAP Admits Error in Saying SBC Leaders Did Not Respond to Letter
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) Chicago office received two letters from a Southern Baptist Convention official in September but didn't forward them to the intended recipients, the group said...
Lebanese Baptists Reach Out to Iraqi Refugees
After sheltering about 800 people left homeless by last summer's Israeli bombing raids of Lebanon, Baptists there are now working on plans to help Iraqi refugees who have fled to neighboring Syria. According to the...
This Gospel Can Be An Inconvenient Truth.
Tuesday afternoon my 13 year-old was walking down a busy street when an unknown group of high school-age boys asked him for a dollar for bus money. Steven had recently been told by someone he trusts about the...
A Pound And A Half of Flesh
In Alabama, if you are convicted of a felony and sent to prison, not only do you lose your freedom for the duration of your sentence, but you also lose your citizenship--even after you have served your term. In...
Seminary First Lady Compares Pill to Abortion
The wife of a Southern Baptist seminary president says women who oppose abortion should think twice before using birth control pills. Dorothy Patterson, professor of theology in woman's studies at Southwestern Baptist...
The Beat of a Fasting Heart
The challenge of Ash Wednesday, indeed the challenge for the Lenten Season, is to find a different rhythm for life. The greater challenge is to find a way to let that seasonal rhythm set a new tone for living beyond a...
SBC Leaders Deny Charge of Unresponsiveness about Clergy Sex Abuse
A lengthy discussion Tuesday about clergy sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention was long on criticism of tactics used by a victims' advocacy group to draw attention to their cause and short on specifics about...
Praying for Stephen Colbert (and Rick Scarborough)
During the Feb. 15 broadcast of "The Colbert Report," comedian Stephen Colbert noted that on Feb. 22 "tens of thousands of people" would be praying for him. The reason was because he had been named on Mastermedia...
Limbaugh Attacks Baptist Pastor, Belittles BCE’s Pastoral Letter
Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh attacked a Baptist Center for Ethics' board member in his January 2007 newsletter, calling him "a wacko." In an article titled "In Sheep's Clothing," Limbaugh identified Joe Phelps as...
SBC Executive Committee to Discuss SNAP Requests
Members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee were scheduled to discuss the denomination's response to sexual abuse by clergy in a work group session this morning. A proposed agenda item for a 9:30...
Golden Pig Means Prosperity, Good Fortune
The Chinese have for centuries viewed the coming of the New Year as a time for new beginnings. They sweep the yard (few had lawns in those days) clean out their homes and closets, and got rid of chipped or cracked...
Symbolism Has Moral Power in Congressional Votes on Iraq
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate cast moral votes last week on the White House's plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq. The majority of Representatives took a moral, albeit symbolical, vote against...
Group Asks Southern Baptist Leaders to Address Clergy Sex Abuse
A national support group formed amid the Catholic Church's cover-up of abusive priests planned today to canvass members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee seeking action to protect children against...
A New Baptist Covenant, A Chance for New Collaborations
Baptists in North America work apart far more frequently than we work together. We seem to prefer independence over interdependence. The New Baptist Covenant is an attempt to collaborate around sharing the gospel of...
Romney Candidacy Spotlights ‘Mormon Question’
Tuesday's formal announcement by Mitt Romney that he is running for president pushes what has been termed the "Mormon question" front and center. The former governor of Massachusetts, Romney is viewed as a leading...
The Cult of Celebrity
The way the old joke goes, eventually everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. For Anna Nicole Smith, she got a bit more than 15 minutes, though some of it has followed her to the grave. In her case it is necessary to define...
Will Republicans Follow Their Wise Leaders or Gas Bags on Global Warming?
According to a National Journal poll, 87 percent of Republican congressmen reject the scientific consensus that the causes of global-warming are man-made. At a congressional hearing on the report from the...
Churches Observe ‘Evolution Sunday’
Don't expect restaurant lines to rival Easter or Mother's Day anytime soon, but more than 600 congregations last Sunday indicated plans to participate in Evolution Sunday, commemorating the 198th birthday of "On the...