I grew up in a Southern Baptist home and church in South Carolina, a small town with cotton mills and a Presbyterian college. My parents taught me by example the family values of love, respect for all people, kindness, generosity, truth telling, fairness, self respect,
Healing is not what they’re looking for the First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Their pastor, Rev. Jimmy Creech, was charged with disobeying the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church by violating one of its Social Principles when he conducted a commitment
Emmanuel Baptist Church, Albany, N.Y. Reading for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Acts 8:26-40 Introduction: The Ethiopian Eunuch is a fascinating character to me, not only because of who he is, but also because of the way he fits into the scriptures. The baptism of
University Baptist Church, Austin, Texas Reading for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost: James 1:17-27 If there’s one thing everybody seems to like, it’s a short sermon. In February of ’87, Will Campbell, that salty saint of the Civil Rights Movement, was theologian in residence at
There was a parade on the first Sunday Dr. Mike Cordle began his tenure in the summer of 1990 at Atlanta’s St. Mark United Methodist Church. “I thought, how nice, they’re welcoming us to Atlanta,” he remembered, “then I realized it was not for us,
From the Ontario Centre for Religious Freedom Many gays and lesbians remain partially or completely in the “closet”. They often find the Church as the last place that they would want to “come out”, because of the fear of rejection and homophobia. This is unfortunate,
The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists was initiated at a gathering of pastors at the 1991 American Baptists’ Biennial meeting in Charleston, West Virginia, and was formally organized at the 1993 Biennial in San Jose, California. By 1995 the Association had grown to over
Honesty lands Southern Baptist in hot water Finding a good, intellectually challenging book in a Baptist bookstore is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. So, it’s no surprise that more than 60 Baptists bookstores have refused to carry the new book by Kirby
Blessing same-sex marriage for the “right” reasons As a Baptist minister, I find the task of writing on the issue of allowing gays and lesbians to marry an assignment that brings with it much fear and trepidation. There is not a lot of healthy debate