Baptist

A life-sized statue of Baptist evangelist Billy Graham will be installed in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall collection sometime next year, replacing a statue of a white supremacist that both the state of North Carolina and the U.S. House want removed.

A bivocational Southern Baptist pastor resigned from his church Wednesday (July 29), after backlash resulting from his participation in an annual birthday celebration for Nathan Bedford Forrest.

In June, Warrior Creek Baptist was back to some normal gatherings. Last week, an annual weeklong revival started as usual, but this year the Alabama church only made it to Thursday.

The Baptist Record will cease printing after 143 years, going fully digital and free of charge on its own website. It is the fourth Baptist publication to stop printing this year.

The nation paid its final respects Thursday (July 23) to C.T. Vivian, a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement who helped end segregation across the South and left an abiding imprint on U.S. history. Vivian, a Baptist minister born in Boonville, Missouri, died July 17 at age 95.

This week the Baptist World Alliance hosted its first virtual General Council, including an officer installation and commissioning service on Thursday (July 23). During the session, Tomás Mackey of Argentina assumed the role of BWA president and will serve a five-year term. 

Many Southern Baptists are familiar with Annie Armstrong, founder of the Woman’s Missionary Union. Fewer know of Annie Filmore, a 20th century pioneer of Baptist missions, who was initially denied fellowship with Armstrong’s WMU because of the color of her skin.

Rep. John Lewis, the longtime civil rights activist, congressman, and ordained Baptist minister who preached about getting in “good trouble,” died Friday (July 17) at the age of 80.

C.T. Vivian, a minister and advocate for civil rights who worked with fellow Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr., died Friday (July 17) in Atlanta. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian, who was born in Boonville, Missouri, was 95.

Southern Baptist leaders in Louisiana this week committed to wearing masks and urged Baptists across the state to join them in this “simple thing” to fight coronavirus.