ERLC Opposes the Equality Act, Resolution on Care for Ministry Leaders & Bridge Generational Gaps

A leading public policy group is encouraging believers to continue protecting religious liberty despite attempts to push the Equality Act through Congress.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission says in a statement, “Through the Equality Act, Congress would punish faith-based charities for their core religious beliefs about human dignity and marriage. While the proposed intention of this bill is to protect individuals who identify as LGBT, the bill fails to respect people’s freedom of conscience.”

The group says the bill puts women at risk.

“The Equality Act undermines decades of civil rights protections for women and girls. Women’s shelters for those escaping domestic abuse or homelessness would be forced to house biological males who identify as women. The Equality Act disregards the privacy and safety concerns that women rightly have about sharing sleeping quarters and intimate facilities with the opposite sex. This legislation would also harm women’s sports and scholarships as girls would be forced to compete with biological males for limited positions.”
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The reality of both internal and external struggles for church leaders served as the impetus for a committee-generated resolution affirming and seeking to improve the spiritual, physical, mental and emotional well-being of pastors and other ministry leaders.

The resolution was passed at the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

It calls on churches to provide needed counseling and care for pastors, ministry leaders and their families as they face the challenges of ministry.
The resolution cites stats that say:

42% are considering leaving the ministry in the next year, and seven in 10 pastors do not have someone they consider to be a close friend.
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Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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In many churches, generation gaps are still wide. In a piece on Baptist Press, Chuck Lawless offers practical ways to close those gaps by guiding the generations to get to know each other.

1. Intentionally invite older, long-term members to attend the church’s membership class. The goal here, of course, is to introduce new members to older ones. Invite the older members to assist in the class by telling some of the church’s history or leading a facility tour. Have a class dinner at one of the member’s homes.

2. Include testimonies in the worship service. We often attend church with large numbers of people whose stories we don’t know. Start to correct this problem by inviting selected members to share their testimony during the worship service – and be sure to vary the generations.

3. Start a cross-generational prayer ministry. Unite the student ministry or the young adult ministry with the senior adult ministry by connecting prayer partners from each generation. Informed praying would require that they get to know each other and their families well.

Lawless offers an additional seven ideas and they’re all helpful. Read the full piece at Baptist Press.com.