Faith & Culture

Churches that want to tap baby boomer retirees' resources may need to rethink the ministries they ask mature adults to take on.

The killing of a Ferguson, Mo., teenager and the riots that followed can teach Christ-followers and churches a few lessons, a church planter and a suburban pastor believe.

Ask the average Baptist on the street - or the average Christian - to define discipleship and you'll likely get a variety of answers.

Bob Perry recalls the approach Southern Baptist churches used two or three generations ago to making disciples - or at least making more knowledgeable and committed Baptists.

Like it or not, the Affordable Care Act — a.k.a. Obamacare — is now the law. Faith-based healthcare providers say it's changing the way hospitals view patient care.

Flexible or multi-use spaces and renovation of older facilities are current trends in church architecture that likely will continue for a while.

Ross Williams, a Springfield, Mo.-based architect, believes the economy drives the need for flexibility in building design and use. "All are still trying to get the biggest bang for the buck," he said.

Michael Olmsted didn’t have to pray too long about serving as interim pastor — even though he's a Baptist by conviction and the congregation is affiliated with a different denomination.

Ministers are responsible for their actions as individuals, sometimes by civil authorities and ultimately by God. But what responsibility, if any, should the local church and the denomination bear for unethical behavior of their pastors and other church ministers?

Everyone pays a high price when the church shepherd breaches trust.

Ukrainian Baptists have stepped up ministry as conflict continues to tear at their country, Slavik Pyzh told pastors and lay leaders in Missouri.

The president of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary spoke to a small gathering on July 1 at First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, one of several stops in Missouri to continue building a partnership with Baptists in the United States.