Federal social programs are overdue for reform. But DOGE needs to be wiser and more careful to actually help the poor.
Behind the Story
From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: I currently live three blocks away from a dilapidated building with a historic marker in front. The "Old First Baptist Church," as we call it in Augusta, sits empty on the site where the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was founded in 1845 by pastors who defended slavery.
I think back to SBC history when I report on the convention’s annual statistics each year. When trying to parse record-high or record-low numbers, I inevitably find myself in the online archive of Southern Baptist annuals dating back to the beginning 180 years ago in Augusta. When I wrote last week about 2024’s membership decline and uptick in baptisms, I pulled up reports from the 1970s to confirm that the numbers fell to the lowest in 50 years. I don’t know of another denominational resource so readily accessible or comprehensive.
The release of the annual church profile also kicks off "Southern Baptist season" in my mind—I booked my tickets to Dallas to once again cover the annual meeting in June.
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President Trump suggested "let’s forget about" the separation of church and state in an address announcing a new religious liberty commission. The administration has also launched a task force to root out anti-Christian bias.
May 5, 553: The Second Council of Constantinople convenes under the presidency of Eutychius, the city's new patriarch. The council, loaded with bishops from the Eastern church, attacked Nestorianism (a "heresy"—many have questioned that anathema—that overemphasizes Christ's dual nature as God and man).
Peter Thomas, who oversees international education at Campbellsville University, got the text at 6:19 in the morning. "Check your records." It was from a colleague at the University of Louisville.…
When I was 18, my mom drove my younger sister and me to Kansas City in our family Suburban for American Idol open auditions. I sang "Mercy" by Duffy for…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Filipino publishers saw a sharp decline in their sales. In 2020, the industry in the Philippines lost more than half its revenue as physical bookstores closed…
Churches are governed by a paradoxical brand of Newtonian physics: One law of ecclesial motion commits them to stay at rest. Another commands perpetual movement. Ministry leaders often speak of…
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Even amid scandals, cultural shifts, and declining institutional trust, we at Christianity Today recognize the beauty of Christ’s church. In this issue, you’ll read of the various biblical metaphors for the church, and of the faithfulness of Japanese pastors. You’ll hear how one British podcaster is rethinking apologetics, and Collin Hansen’s hope for evangelical institutions two years after Tim Keller’s death. You’ll be reminded of the power of the Resurrection, and how the church is both more fragile and much stronger than we think from editor in chief Russell Moore. This Lent and Easter season, may you take great courage in Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18—"I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
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