Drive-By Pastoral Prayer Time
This week, a pastor sat in a chair at the local park with a sign that read, “How Can I Pray for You, Today?” Over the next couple hours, he had a couple of dozen people come through seeking prayer or just looking for a
BJC Analysis: The COVID-19 Stimulus Packages and Houses of Worship
Baptists don’t and shouldn’t look first to the government for how to overcome most difficulties. Our commitment to the separation of church and state is rooted in our theology and our history, neither of which is changed by government efforts to provide relief in a
States Debate Coronavirus Exemptions for Churches as Worship Services Spark Outbreaks
Some church leaders are pushing for religious exemptions to state bans on mass gatherings. — and a couple pastors have even been arrested for defying bans. Amid this nationwide debate, Missouri Governor Mike Parson shifted course on religious exemptions after an April 2 press
Teaching Old Dogs (and Pastors) New Tricks
How does a technologically-challenged person like me shift from closing the church for meetings and — in one week — go to online streaming? Very carefully.
This Year’s CBF General Assembly to Be Virtual
CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley released a statement today (April 2) announcing that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Governing Board approved his recommendation to transition this year's CBF General Assembly to "a virtual experience."
Indian Baptists Minister Amid Coronavirus, Lockdown
As coronavirus started growing in the world’s second-most populous country, India’s government responded March 24 with a nationwide lockdown to prevent the pandemic’s spread in the congested nation — a disruptive response that created even more ministry needs for Baptists there to address.
Q&A: How Churches, Pastors Are Eligible for Relief in Stimulus Package
GuideStone's legal team, led by Chief Legal Officer Harold R. Loftin, has created a Q&A document to provide general information on the March 27 stimulus package law and how it relates to churches and ministers.
Spring Without Easter
There’s a famous line in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where a character laments that because of the White Witch’s rule over the land of Narnia, it is “always Winter but never Christmas.” But, what about a Spring without Easter?
Church Selects Pastor Virtually Amid Coronavirus
Nolan Porter is excited to become the next senior pastor at University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri — and he’s also excited to eventually meet the congregants there. On Sunday (March 29), Porter preached in view of a call at UHBC, but with coronavirus
‘Zoombombing’ Comes for Houses of Worship
On Sunday, Alex Merritt was signed in to the Zoom video conferencing app, discussing a biblical passage with members of his Sunday school young adults group at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. Then the trolls attacked.