Recent Articles
A New Season
By: Ginger Hughes “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…a time to embrace and...
When Your World Turns Upside Down, You Can Relate with Others
The global coronavirus pandemic has taken all our normal lives and turned them backwards on themselves. However, we can be in solidarity in a small way with people who have already have their lives turned upside down.
Vulnerable People Too Easily Overlooked in COVID-19 Crisis
The COVID-19 virus is straining health systems around the world, raising questions and forcing decisions regarding how best to care for those who are sick. Faith leaders must ensure vulnerable groups are not overlooked in the process.
March 31, 2020
Most Americans Say Coronavirus Outbreak Has Impacted Their Lives (Pew Research Center) Florida Megachurch Pastor Arrested for Violating Coronavirus Order (AL.com) A Choir Decided to Go Ahead With Rehearsal. Now Dozens of Members Have COVID-19 and Two are Dead (Los...
‘Brother Molly’ Podcast Release Delayed
EthicsDaily.com’s release of “Brother Molly,” a six-episode documentary podcast on the life and work of theologian Molly T. Marshall, has been delayed.
How Can You Beat Depression? Engage Mind, Body and Soul
With many of us practicing social distancing, COVID-19 is taking a toll. For some, depression will inevitably set in. Should you begin to feel depressed, practice some of these steps to engage your mind, body and soul.
What Liturgical Worship Provides You: Tradition and Direction
Many Baptists are wary of liturgical worship. While we were not made for ritual, we were made to follow Christ. The rituals remind us of who we are, where we came from and where we’re headed. The traditions give us direction.
To Flaunt COVID-19 Warnings, A Failure of Biblical Proportions
As the COVID-19 virus rages across the globe, some Christians flaunt the threat to public health, believing they will be spared when they assemble. But Jesus was crystal-clear: Don’t put God to the test.
March 30, 2020
N.T. Wright: Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To (TIME) Frank Schaeffer: Donald Trump Has Become a ‘Pro-Death President’ Amid Coronavirus Pandemic (Inquistr) Churches All Over the World Ignore Physical Distancing Advice...
LONG DISTANCE CALL: Church votes on new pastor few have met in person
By John D. Pierce, Executive Editor, Nurturing Faith Journal GAINESVILLE, Ga. — For the first time in its storied history the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga., called a pastor and hardly anyone showed up. Jeremy Shoulta, who accepted the call to become pastor...
It’s a good time to talk
By John D. Pierce When moving last year I set aside some old, personal family stuff for a rainy day. Or, as it turned out, for an unexpected time of isolation. Digging through old photos, news clippings and other artifacts on a recent secluded evening was an enjoyable...
Think Your Life Won’t Return to Normal? You Can Get Close
Your world is spinning out of control. Massive changes, shutdowns, chaos and fear increase your insecurity. Life may not return to normal, but you can strengthen your mental health so you can get close enough to get by.
Lenten Lectionary | Grief and Presence Amid COVID-19 Virus
Many people are wrestling with the loss of loved ones as COVID-19 spreads around the world, but the final cruelty of the pandemic is its forced separation from those we love, just when we need togetherness the most.
To Move Past Coronavirus, We Must All Be in This Together
As we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, people of good faith must set the example by offering a hopeful vision that unites the generations. We won’t make progress by leaving others behind. We’re all in this together.
Despite COVID-19 Crisis, Border Pastors Minister to Refugees
Pastors who comprise Fellowship Southwest’s ministry to asylum-seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border spent almost two hours discussing their work with refugees while living in the shadow of COVID-19.
March 27, 2020
The Pandemic is Forcing us to Reimagine What Community Looks Like (CNN) Surgeon General, Disaster Experts Advise Church Leaders in COVID-19 Online Summit (RNS) How Religious Communities are Worshiping Together While Apart (WBUR) Keeping the Faith: Devout Frequenting...
Lessons from Robert ‘Bob’ Stephenson
Robert ‘Bob’ Stephenson passed away on March 20. A man with a great sense of justice and decency, Bob sought to keep Baptist institutions free and detested fundamentalism. Free and faithful Baptists owe him a debt of gratitude.
Backward Philosophy: Elevating Economy Over People’s Lives
As a Texas politician proposed elders sacrifice themselves to stave off an economic collapse, his words expose a pervasive idolatry of our world: elevating money over the lives of people. Instead, let’s heed the words of Oscar Romero.
6 Steps to Navigate ‘Rush Hour’ of Your New Emotional Anxiety
During these days of quarantine or ‘physical distancing,’ all of our emotions are ‘all over the map’ during the COVID-19 crisis. Our emotional flow is like a four-way intersection, but the pandemic has turned off the traffic lights.
March 26, 2020
Good Faith Weekly Podcast Launches Ahead of Schedule (Ethics Daily) Lexington Church Plants Sign to Encourage Community (WKYT) Ohio Church Supports Restaurants and the Hungry at the Same Time (13ABC) Baptist World Alliance Issues Call for Global Prayer (Word &...
Drive-In Church Fosters Community During Quarantine
The COVID-19 virus has been forcing churches to adapt their regular routines. For one Virginia Baptist church, the solution to meeting as a congregation was as close as their parking lot. Set up a drive-in church on Sunday.
Good Faith Weekly Podcast Launches Ahead of Schedule
Originally scheduled to begin in June with the launch of Good Faith Media (GFM), a new podcast – Good Faith Weekly – launched earlier than planned, providing coverage and commentary regarding the global pandemic.
In Age of COVID-19, One of Two Futures for Your Church – Part 2
The church, across the ages, has often been at its best in the face of its most challenging moments. The COVID-19 virus will be no different. In our darkest moments, the lights of faith, hope and love shine brightest.
While Powerful Pursue Greed, Let’s Support the Common Good
With moneyed corporate interests seeking an opportunity to cash in on a federal government economic relief package, let’s remember what we can do to benefit the common good and the average citizen. Here are 4 ideas.
March 25, 2020
Coronavirus: WHO Head Says Nations Must Attack as Virus is Accelerating (NPR) Trump Wants ‘Packed Churches’ and Economy Open Again on Easter Despite the Deadly Threat of Coronoavirus (CNBC) Christian Theologian: When Faith Threatens Public Health (CNN) SBC Annual...
Essential services
No one needs reminding that life is currently different from anything we've known before. With large gatherings banned, in-person church meetings have been called off with no clear end in sight. As more and more states impose "shelter in place" guidelines, everyone is...
In Age of COVID-19, One of Two Futures for Your Church – Part 1
With the COVID-19 virus spreading a global crisis, congregations face a future radically different from what they imagined at the dawn of 2020. This dual crisis of health and finances could hit churches hard where they are weakest.
6 Lessons That Will Keep Your Church Moving Forward
As long as people gather and interact, emotional processes are at work. Some interactions can be inherently anxious, which will keep churches from moving forward and distract them from accomplishing their mission and purpose.
Maybe Some Churches Need a Different Kind of Leader
Some folks believe the church needs to be run more like a business. It’s a comfortable and familiar role, but is it really what the church needs? Maybe churches don’t need a CEO; maybe they need a wise fool to lead them.
March 24, 2020
Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear For Their Safety (New York Times) Louisiana Baptists Donate N95 Respirators (Baptist Message) Texas Baptist Men Donating Thousands of Masks and Hazmat Suits to State for Coronavirus Response (KTAB) ‘We Can’t Anoint...