I came across an interesting little report in the Baptist Press written by Terry Dorsett, Director of the Green Mountain Baptist Association. Mr. Dorsett first went to Vermont as sort of a "missionary" to the heathen, or at least the unenlightened. He's a Southern Baptist. Very evangelical and all of that. He reports no SBC presence in Vermont until 1963. In the past 8 years, the number of congregations has grown from 17 to 37. In 1999, there were less than 600 Southern Baptist worshipp... Read Full Story
In 1982 the World Alliance of Reformed Churches suspended the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa (NHKA) from the global alliance for its biblical and theological support of apartheid. Of course, come might ask why it took until 1982 for that action to occur, but that is beside the point here. Now, NHKA has applied for readmission to the WARC and they have been denied.The WARC committee dealing with such matters has stated that first NHKA must deny apartheid "fully and completely." It se... Read Full Story
As a long time member of the denominational church scene, I have observed two trends that are true-- at least in the world(s) I move (have moved) in. These trends are as follows:Clergy are generally more theologically progressive than the laity (I speak as one of the club-- the progressive clergy club).Church judicatories (i.e. general assemblies, synods, presbyteries, and church boards/sessions) follow a declining line of "liberal thought and practice"-- generally in the order listed.All of... Read Full Story
What do you recall about your childhood? I don’t remember much about mine. Snatches of this, hints of that. I am fifty-two. My sister is a year and a half older. When we talk about “those magical childhood days,” we often find that we remember them quite differently (including who was Mom’s favorite). Who’s right? Seems to me that I am. She always pulls the “age card.” “You’re too young to remember.” It can really make me angry. Problem is, she is probably right—at least in some c... Read Full Story
What do you recall about your childhood? I don’t remember much about mine. Snatches of this, hints of that. I am fifty-two. My sister is a year and a half older. When we talk about “those magical childhood days,” we often find that we remember them quite differently (including who was Mom’s favorite). Who’s right? Seems to me that I am. She always pulls the “age card.” “You’re too young to remember.” It can really make me angry. Problem is, she is probably right—at least in some c... Read Full Story
Have a good (correct that, GREAT) old friend. We go back to the days of Jesus Freakdom, Christian communes, and being "dyed-in-the-wool" Charismaniacs. We sort of parted theological company about 30 years ago. Don't get me wrong. His theology hasn't been exactly "static." Nope. He has shifted around a bit. If we were both level 8 literalists "back in the day," he's probably a 5.67 now. We ARE still great friends. Only problem, and this rarel... Read Full Story
Yes, I know, I've been gone for 16 days. So, exactly what have I been up to lately? Well... where to begin. As you know from earlier postings, I am very interested in statistical studies centering around the question of fundamentalism and domestic violence. A few months back, I decided that most of the evidence that we had regarding this was anecdotal. There was, in fact, plenty of that kind of stuff. Further, about everyone and their mother knows that male dominated, far out, weird... Read Full Story
There were a couple of interesting articles in our local paper a week or so ago, both sent out by the AP. In a way, they both dealt with education and the attempt to create "Christian enclaves"-- protected places where Christians can run and hide.The first that caught my eye dealt with Domino's Pizza founder, Thomas Monahan. Monahan is a Roman Catholic. He has started a project in the Naples area of Florida that is a bit reminiscent of the religious utopian experiments of the... Read Full Story
A recent op ed piece by Lenoard Pitts discussed the results of a recent Pew opinion poll dealing with American's views of torture. Pitts makes several excellent points that bear restating here:Between 1933 and 1945 the Nazi regime systematically slaughtered six million Jews. Yet, for the most part, the Christian church said nothing. This is especially true of the German church-- although the criticism can be extended well beyond the borders of Germany. (I have written about the histor... Read Full Story
A recent study in The Journal of the American Medical Association seems to indicate that more religious patients approve of more aggressive means of treating cancer. This seems to be the case even when such treatment only offers a prolongation of suffering. Researchers expressed concerns that not only did such treatment prolong the suffering of the patient, it made coping for the bereaved at an inevitable passing (or so it seemed to be apparent when the patient was living) much more difficu... Read Full Story
