Seven columnists have shared why they support financially EthicsDaily.com. They are pastors, professors, denominational leaders and a layperson.
While each explained their support on different grounds, three themes kept surfacing – trust, reliability and resources.
First is trust.
“I believe and trust in the leadership and staff,” wrote Emmanuel McCall, pastor of the First Baptist Church in East Point, Georgia. “They are believers with moral and spiritual integrity, vision and commitment.”
Jeter Basden is professor of religion and director of ministry guidance at Baylor University. He shared that he knew me and had known my family since the 1970s. He said Zach Dawes had been one of his students.
“We believe in these dedicated Christians and their ministry,” he wrote.
Illustrating why he trusts EthicsDaily.com, Colin Harris, professor emeritus of religious studies at Mercer University, spoke to the organization’s administration. He said that the “management system … is as frugal as any agency can be.”
Michael Cheuk, a leadership coach and church consultant, underscored staff trustworthiness through attention to their constituency.
The second vice president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia wrote that the organization “pays attention to the needs of pastors and church leaders” and “shows appreciation to its readers and audience.”
Trust is a defining characteristic of EthicsDaily.com.
For 25 years, we have retained a church-centered, Christocentric moral witness. We haven’t blown with the cultural winds. We have sought to provide both a timely cultural critique and meaningful church resources.
Second is reliability.
“The Baptist Center for Ethics has become a most reliable resource,” said Basden.
He pointed to the organization’s dependability “for Bible study curriculum, documentaries, news stories, interviews, conferences and multiple other tools focusing on pressing ethical concerns.”
Jim Hill, executive director of Churchnet, noted our reliability when he said, “EthicsDaily.com is one of the first places I go when I am looking for resources.”
Cheuk said, “Each day, EthicsDaily.com provides consistent value.”
Referring to staff, Cheuk said that they “exude excellence by shining light on the issues of our day.”
Readers know what to expect when they visit our website, order our study guides and view our documentaries. They know we seek to build up the church, avoid partisan politics, offer cutting-edge articles and provide high quality material.
The third recurring theme is resources.
“My family and I support the Baptist Center for Ethics because we believe in its mission of advancing the common good by providing proactive, positive and practical ethics resources to churches and individuals,” wrote Daniel Carro, professor of divinity at The John Leland Center for Theological Studies.
He said, “We read with interest each of the news articles, columns, editorials and other content we find at EthicsDaily.com. We have enjoyed every one of the documentaries BCE has produced, especially ‘Beneath the Skin,’ ‘Gospel Without Borders’ and the last one, ‘The Disturbances.'”
“The creative genius of the regional and national forums, the development of media resources for biblical studies and formal conversations have made significant and worthy contributions,” praised McCall.
Sara Powell, who lives in Hartwell, Georgia, wrote, “We live in a world that is sharply divided with ‘fake news’ coming at us from all quarters. EthicsDaily.com is a source for thoughtful, prayerful views on the issues of our day.”
She praised our documentaries as having “sought to span areas of conflict or misunderstanding.”
Harris, too, recognized the resource value of documentaries.
“The center was founded with the mission of providing proactive, positive and practical ethics resources for churches and church leaders. These resources help us to confront the hard questions as we seek to live our faith each day. BCE / EthicsDaily.com has demonstrated the courage to take on the hard issues that we sometimes prefer to avoid,” said Hill.
From our very beginning until this very hour, we’ve been committed to providing resources that challenge goodwill people of faith. We seek to equip them with thoughtful resources that encourage applied Christianity.
At the closing hours of 2016, I hope you’ll make a gift to EthicsDaily.com. All gifts fill the giving basket.
Online gifts may be made in these amounts: $5, $10, $25, $50. To increase the size of your donation, simply increase the quantity in the box below the image to the right of the donation-page guidelines.
If you prefer to donate by check, please make your check payable to Baptist Center for Ethics and mail to: Baptist Center for Ethics, P.O. Box 150506, Nashville, TN 37215.
For those who have given, we give thanks for your good support.
For readers who have not given, I hope our trustworthiness, steadiness and productivity are compelling reasons to give this year.
Robert Parham is executive editor of EthicsDaily.com and executive director of its parent organization, the Baptist Center for Ethics. Follow him on Twitter at RobertParham1 and friend him on Facebook. Order his new book, “The Disturbances.” It is available as either a paperback or an e-book.
Robert M. Parham (1953 – 2017) was the founder and executive director of Baptist Center for Ethics from 1991 to 2017. He served as executive editor of EthicsDaily.com, BCE’s website, from its launch in 2002 until 2017.
