Guns Shouldn’t Trump the First Amendment
Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor wrote a guest op-ed for the Missouri Times about a state bill to make it easier to bring concealed weapons into houses of worship. Read full piece
Photo Essay: Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church
On Nov. 25, vandals attacked Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church, a historic Black Baptist church in rural Callaway County, Missouri. On Dec. 6, Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor met Mount Vernon’s pastor, Gordon Coleman, at the church to talk about its legacy and the damage.
To Prevent Abuse at Religious Schools, Missouri Lawmakers Recommend New Regulations
In order to improve safety and understand the scope of unlicensed youth residential facilities throughout Missouri, lawmakers are recommending every facility be registered, background checks be required, and that three substantiated reports of abuse and neglect result in children being removed.
Unmasking Dangerous Religious Exemptions
As more cities and states consider enacting much-needed mask mandates during the growing coronavirus pandemic, Editor Brian Kaylor urges a healthy view of religious freedom that does not carve out unnecessary and dangerous exemptions.
Missouri Church Continues 20-Year Partnership in South Dakota Despite Pandemic Complication
For 20 years, the people living in Bridger, South Dakota, have had partnership and support from Second Baptist Church of Liberty, Missouri. While COVID-19 has changed the way they typically connect, the partnership has remained strong. Read full piece
C.T. Vivian, Baptist Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 95
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.
Keeping Safe While Serving, Church Groups Tackle Pandemic and Protests
Rev. Traci Blackmon was at home outside of St. Louis when a local hospital called with a question: Could Blackmon’s church help sew some masks?
Rural Missouri Baptist Pastor: Virus ‘Just Started to Sprout Up’
As COVID-19 surges in southwestern Missouri, a Baptist pastor, his family, and his church members are among those impacted. Joshua Manning, pastor of Community Baptist Church in Noel, is seeing coronavirus now moving into his rural area.
As Coronavirus ‘Storm Cloud’ Gathers, Black Church in Missouri Braces for Mourning
When Traci Blackmon, the senior pastor for a predominantly black church in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, is finally able to open the doors for service again, one of her main concerns is the collective sorrow her congregation will experience.
Death in the Middle of Death: On the Execution of Walter Barton
It’s been over two months (75 days to be exact) since we’ve had an execution. There are only two other times since the turn of the century the state has gone that long without executing someone. But last Tuesday (May 19), that pause came to