Please Listen to My Friend Ralph West About Racism & the SBC
The six Southern Baptist seminary presidents would have done well to reflect on their own denominational history. Read full piece
‘We Out’: Prominent Black Pastor on Why His Church is Leaving the SBC Over Rejection of Critical Race Theory
When did the theological architects of American slavery develop the moral character to tell the church how it should discuss and discern racism? When did those who have yet to hire multiple Black or brown faculty at their seminaries assume ethical authority on the subject
My Church Will Replace Our Black Lives Matter Sign. Will America Replace its Racist Myth?
A sign came down on Saturday. The Black Lives Matter banner in front of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, where I am privileged to serve as pastor, was removed and destroyed on Saturday evening. I am deeply disturbed by this incident (one of several incidents
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.
Southern Baptist Seminary Presidents Double Down on Bad Theology on Race
At a recent annual meeting, seminary presidents in the Southern Baptist Convention reasserted the SBC’s dismissal of Critical Race Theory. Jim Wallis argues that opposing CRT as bad sociology is bad theology.
The Long Road to White Christians’ Trumpism
A look at history, though, reveals that the forces of Trumpism—with its racism and sexism—run deep through white American Christianity. Read full piece
Democrats Push ‘Abolition Amendment’ To Fully Erase Slavery From U.S. Constitution
With the adoption and ratification of the 13th Amendment 155 years ago, the practice of slavery formally ended in this country, but it did not strip away all aspects of involuntary servitude. Read full piece
Four Teens Arrested for Vandalizing Black Baptist Church
The Callaway County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday it arrested four teenagers for massive vandalism last week to a historic Black Baptist church founded by enslaved persons before the Civil War.
Panel Urges Southern Seminary to Make Amends for Past Racial Sins
Panelists at a Dec. 2 virtual forum on “Race and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary” agreed the Louisville, Ky., school’s entanglements with slavery and racism demand a stronger response than the school has put forward. Read full piece
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Ghosts of Segregation
Vestiges of racism and oppression, from bricked-over segregated entrances to the forgotten sites of racial violence, still permeate much of America’s built environment. Read full piece