Today I think it is appropriate to offer my best-of-religious-newsmakers of 2010. We start with 10 and work our way down.
10. This past summer, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assemblies revealed that we truly live in a post-denominational era.
In the midst of declining church attendance, both organizations formed task forces to determine their futures. There is a crisis in organized religion; we hope this year brings some creative solutions to reverse the trend.
9. We know that megachurch pastors are human too, but we don’t expect one to be accused of harassing young men. I don’t care to comment on New Birth’s Bishop Eddy Long, but he made the news for 2010, so here he is at number 9.
8. Although this does not deal with church, one of the more bizarre religious-related stories came out of Texas. There, the state’s Board of Education revised history textbooks to blur the line between church and state.
Texas Law professor Cynthia Dunbar praised the new textbooks for casting America as “a Christian land governed by Christian principals.” That it downplayed contributions by minorities and woman also showed distaste on the part of the Board.
7. In a blog dated September 20, Baptist leader Al Mohler contended that yoga was incompatible with Christianity because of its Hindu, “occult” roots. He mentioned that secular society wooed Christians into this practice, which borders on “ritualized sex.”
Mohler’s comments garnered hundreds of complaints. It continues to be a popular conversation piece on the internet.
6. On a more personal note, an article I wrote about my grandmother (in honor of her 90th birthday) was newsworthy. It was, after all, popular among my readers.
I wrote about her love for me, mentioning: “She represents the absolute grace and abundant love that God has for all of us–almost like God incarnate–who loves like Christ loves.” I got a lot of positive feedback on that little chestnut.
5. Terry Jones: The pastor in Florida who invented “National Burn the Quran Day.” It took a phone call from President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to convince him that God was telling him not to go through with it. Need I say more?
4. Just a few months after New Birth made the news, the Church in the Now dominated headlines when Bishop Jim Swilley announced his sexual orientation.
Reactions to Swilley’s announcement were mixed. Yet, in a time of intense national debate surrounding homosexuality, Swilley’s coming-out had a certain grace and gravitas to it. AJC columnist, Cynthia Tucker, called Swilley “courageous.”
It might have been courageous to some, but it left many people wondering why he took so long. Churches that wrestle with this theological issue on a daily basis rarely make the news, but at least their honest from the get-go.
3. ‘Tis was the summer of bullying. After several teenagers died as a result of what seemed to be America’s greatest pastime, churches and governments alike rallied for zero tolerance.
Zero tolerance went viral when Fort Worth city councilman Joel Burns made a public plea for people to stand up to bullying. Many churches echoed Burns’ sentiments. That was courageous.
2. Another article I wrote: After the fatal shootings at the local Gamestop and several local house parties, I wrote a confession of sorts.
I argued that we clergy fail our teenagers when we focus more on building our ministries than building healthy families. Also, when churches fail to collaborate, we ignore the poverty and political conflicts that contribute to the rise of crime in our neck of the woods.
1. Although some of these top-ten stories are juicy, nothing is more exciting than the “Blue Christmas” collection put on by First Baptist Church of Conyers.
They put out barrels everywhere, from Jim N’ Nick’s restaurant to Young American’s Christian School, and collected over 17,000 jeans for the poor.
So, with 2010 gone and the New Year upon us, congratulations to FBC of Conyers for having the most newsworthy story of 2010. Let’s hope 2011 is filled with more good news like this one.
Baptist Spirituality 