Christa Brown
Christa Brown is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Christa Brown
Justice for SBC sexual abuse victims: A call for an investigatory commission
By Christa Brown — May 20, 2021
(RNS) — Few abuse survivors anticipate the country’s largest Protestant faith group will effectively address its sexual abuse problem without the pressure of outside forces.
There’s a new Baptist sex abuser database, but SBC action is still needed
By Christa Brown — May 4, 2020
(RNS) — For more than a decade, abuse survivor advocates have been asking the Southern Baptist Convention to establish a clergy predator database and for just as long they've been confronted with a denomination determined to do nothing.
An accused pastor’s suicide: The pain we see and the pain we don’t
By Christa Brown — November 5, 2019
(RNS) — When the Rev. Bryan Fulwider, an accused rapist, ended his life, he didn't end the pain his alleged victim feels. To the contrary, it may well bring greater hurt.
To Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors: 10 tips from the trenches
By David Clohessy and Christa Brown — February 11, 2019
(RNS) — We who have been dealing with abuse issues for years already see familiar patterns of institutional protection and image management in Southern Baptist leadership's response.
Clergy sex abuse: Why a national all-faiths inquiry is needed
By David Clohessy and Christa Brown — November 15, 2018
(RNS) — If we want our children to be safer, we cannot afford the comfortable delusion that this is an isolated problem.
GUEST COMMENTARY: What the Ted Haggard scandal is really about
By Christa Brown — January 27, 2009
(UNDATED) The headline was an eye-catcher: “Pastor Ted Haggard faces more gay sex accusations.” But the more I delved into the recent Associated Press story, the more I knew it wasn’t really about “gay sex.” It was about pastoral abuse and exploitation. It was about a megachurch cover-up. This story was different from the one […]
Protestants Use Christmas Movie to Talk About Mary
By Christa Brown — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ Scot McKnight, a religious studies professor, was teaching a number of years ago when he had an “aha” moment. McKnight had just read aloud the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s hymn of praise from the Gospel of Luke. “What kind of woman would have said this?” McKnight asked […]
10 Minutes With … Pastor Becky Fischer
By Christa Brown — October 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Reaction to the new documentary “Jesus Camp” has been heated, to say the least. The film, which profiles evangelical Pastor Becky Fischer and her “Kids on Fire” summer camp in Devil’s Lake, N.D., shows children wailing in prayer, protesting abortion and praying in front of a cardboard cut-out of […]
Tattoo Ministry Offers a Clean Slate, One Scar at a Time
By Christa Brown — September 29, 2006
c. Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ A tattoo of Korean characters spelling “trouble” snaked down Miles Carrington’s neck. The markings were remnants of a former life, of drugs and alcohol, gangs and jail. They did not belong on the cleaned-up Carrington, a 36-year-old father of two with a respectable job selling stocks and bonds. […]
Q&A with Bobby Schuller
By Christa Brown — July 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) America has searched for the next pop idol, top model and ballroom dancer. Now, apparently, it is time to look for the next inspirational speaker. On July 23, The Learning Channel will launch a new reality series, “The Messengers,” in which 10 contestants compete for a book deal and […]
More than 20,000 Celebrate Pentecostalism’s 100th Birthday
By Christa Brown — April 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ At least 20,000 people from more than 100 countries have converged here to mark the 100th anniversary of the modern Pentecostal movement. For five days, beginning Tuesday (April 25), Pentecostal and charismatic Christians are commemorating a revival at a converted stable on Azusa Street that launched the […]
Intelligent Design Gains Momentum, Raises Eyebrows on Campuses: By SARAH PRICE BROWN
By Christa Brown — January 5, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When Hannah Maxson started an intelligent design club at Cornell University last fall, a handful of science majors showed up for the first meeting. Today, the high-profile club boasts more than 80 members. Until recently, the nationwide debate over whether intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution was centered […]
Oy Vey! Book Offers Guidance to Wrestling with Jewish Guilt
By Christa Brown — September 21, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ It came to her, the rabbi’s daughter, while she was sitting in her grandmother’s church. It was the voice of guilt. Ruth Andrew Ellenson, whose mother converted to Judaism and whose father runs Hebrew Union College, where most Reform rabbis are trained, had gone to church to […]
Program Trains Christians to Become Hollywood Moguls
By Christa Brown — August 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ It’s hip to be spiritual in Hollywood these days, as long as you’re not religious. The way the fashionable set see it: Scientology and Kabbalah are in, Christianity is out. But a new program to train Christians to be film and television executives is trying to reverse […]
NEWS FEATURE: Black Women Attracted to Hit Film Based on Gospel Play From `Chitlin Circuit’
By Christa Brown — March 22, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Madea’s in the house. That’s the best way to explain the success of “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” the $5.5 million movie comedy with Christian themes that grossed more than $22 million on its opening weekend and is approaching $50 million so far, despite pans from critics. Not […]
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