Church Attendance Wasn’t Always Robust in Past

Suddenly it has dawned on pundits and publics that decline in religious affiliation and participation demands notice. Editorials on the subject abound. Some of these celebrated the liberation of society from religion, though descriptions of what is replacing it are...

Why I Am (Still) a Baptist

This past Sunday morning I spent some time with one of the adult Sunday school classes at the church where I am pastor. They had spent several months working through a study of doctrines important to Baptists, and I had been asked to visit and wrap up the study. After...

A Middlin’ Baptist

True “middle-of-the-road” Baptists seem to be the Rodney Dangerfields of the Baptist world. An old friend (whom I respect greatly and who happens to be on the Left) often dismissed others with the folk observation: “There’s nothing in the...

Baptist Brothers Battle Over Church Count

Brothers fight. That reality is as old as the biblical witness and as new as today’s sunrise. Cain murdered Abel. Ishmael and Isaac were separated only to become forefathers of endless combatants—Arabs and Jews. Jacob tricked, fled and feared Esau. Joseph and...