Churches and Ministry

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Most pastors say their churches have policies in place to address significant misbehavior by church members, but few have actually used those policies recently.

CAVE SPRING, Ga. (BP) – Losing a school that has been stitched into a community for generations is unthinkable for a town, until it happens.

(RNS) — Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of churchgoers are regular participants in congregations other than their primary one, either attending in person, watching online or on TV, or taking part in both physical and virtual offerings.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Faith and sharing the Gospel have long been pillars for brothers John and David Franklin, best shown on a brittle January Sunday in 1914.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) renewed its call for the U.S. State Department to flag Nigeria for egregious religious freedom violations after 200 Christians were slaughtered there in one night.

GADSDEN, Ala. (BP) – Alvin Johnson has a calling. Two, actually. He loves both and sees God work in their respective settings.

SMYRNA, Tenn. — Giant flowers filled the screen as kids filed in to LifePoint Church Smyrna for the final day of their 2025 Vacation Bible School (VBS). Reflecting Lifeway's 2025 theme – Magnified! – the worship center was decorated with large ants, squirrels, caterpillars, fireflies, flowers and dragonflies. The week was all about magnifying the bigness of God in the smallest of things.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – A tragic bus crash involving a local church claimed a husband and wife and left another person in critical condition Sunday morning. 

When SBC President Clint Pressley asked me to chair this year’s Resolutions Committee, I hesitated. Anyone familiar with the resolutions process at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting understands why. Resolutions can serve as instruments of conviction or, just as easily, catalysts for controversy. Nuanced theological concerns, amendments from the floor, and the challenge of striking the right tone – all of it makes the process delicate and, at times, daunting.

DALLAS (BP) – In 1925, Southern Baptists faced a “percolating maelstrom of denominational uncertainty,” Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said in his EC report to messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting June 10. And in a time when solutions were needed, “courageous leaders redefined cooperation.”