On the closing day of the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Liberty, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced plans to create a new International Religious Freedom Alliance.
Such anniversaries present an opportunity to reclaim the history that racism and sexism obscured, bringing the narrative back into more truthful telling with understanding the systemic obstacles overwhelming
Sioux Falls Seminary’s “Baptistness” lies not in the application of some “Baptist principle” or set of principles. Rather, we seek to be resonant with the historic genius of the Baptist ethos, one grounded in the Baptist conviction of Christ’s lordship that leads to a decentering of all things human, including institutions.
Secretary Pompeo recently announced the establishment of a Commission on Unalienable Rights, to furnish advice for the promotion of individual liberty, human equality, and democracy through U.S. foreign policy. In his opening remarks, Secretary Pompeo expressed his “hope that this ministerial will inform that discussion.”
The crackdown, part of a broader effort in recent years to restrict China’s fast-growing religious groups, includes detaining over one million ethnic minority Muslims in internment camps in the far western region of Xinjiang, removing crosses from churches, conducting surveillance inside churches, closing churches and demolishing church buildings.
The Baptist World Alliance calls upon Baptists to “Repent from the teachings and practices” that “have prevented women from flourishing as human beings created in the image of God and full members of the body of Christ,” and to be open to the Holy Spirit’s power to provoke transformation so that Baptists might affirm “the God-given calling of women for service in the church.”
Unlike the career development target of identifying skills, interests and needs to be fulfilled, a mission in life identifies the value to which you choose to dedicate your energy and focus. Few things contribute to purpose in life more than having a sense of mission and carrying out our assignment from God.
The upheaval we’re experiencing—from a toxic public discourse to the airing of grievances to the gridlock on important issues—can feel overwhelming and make us feel so small. We can wonder, perhaps even worry, about the sense of our small efforts.
History may be presented as abstract and distant, but this documentary reminds us that we’ve already gone too long as a nation in making the Reconstruction era just that. Without a greater appreciation of the past, we repeat its sins.
One of the factors contributing to women and men leaving ministry is the often heavy cost of theological education leading to the assumption of considerable debt. In response to these challenges, Sioux Falls Seminary’s Kairos Project has abandoned the credit hour in favor of a revolutionary financial model for operating and pricing degrees.