In the 1840s, Baptists nationally united under the Triennial Convention decided slaveholders could not be ordained missionaries. Slaveholding Baptists in the South left and formed the Southern Baptist Convention. This post is not about slaveholding Southern Baptists in the 1840s.

I don't have time to witness the Walk for Peace monks in Charlotte today, but I commend them on their journey. They are inspiring thousands as they paint a powerful picture of a truly Christ-like posture.

"Servant leadership" is just a buzzword until you're the one breaking a sweat carrying boxes for event setup, staying late to fold chairs after the event, or doing the next-day post-event data entry. Leadership is 10% vision or platform and 90% service and administrative work.

I grew up with pastors and Sunday school teachers repeatedly telling me to "be in the world, not of the world." Years later they've all fallen prey to a hyperpartisan world of outrage, fear, and bigotry, swapping Jesus for a politics of division and in the process hurting both themselves and others.

Amidst a wearying drumbeat of bad news, I'm starting this Friday with gratitude:

If the world feels very heavy right now, you're not alone and you're not wrong. That feeling you have to want to solve it all, to take away the pain and hurt: that just makes you human. Take deep breaths. Pray. Find time to rest. Find and build community. We're in this together.

Fourteen years ago today, I attended my first worship service at my now-home church in Charlotte. I'd made a New Year resolution to get back into church, after years of intermittent church shopping. St. John's had been waiting for me the entire time. 1/4

It's been a hot minute since I've regularly used Bluesky, but I'm hopping back in as I brew up some writing projects this year. I'd love to connect more and follow fellow progressive/moderate Baptists, LGBTQ Christians, and folks from Charlotte, North Carolina, and the larger South.

Armed officers of a pseudomilitary government agency specifically trained to turn against and target the people living and working under its jurisdiction is never a good idea, is a sign of democratic backsliding, and will always inevitably lead to fatal consequences. Abolish ICE.

Moving to Charlotte in 2007, I was just a blogger-turned-rookie journalist with a laptop. I didn’t know then that this city would become the place where I’d find my voice, my calling, my husband, and a life rich with meaning and purpose. The Queen City isn't perfect, but it is home.

I saw a TikTok post this morning of a 20-something trans creator explaining the emotional and spiritual toll the world has taken recently. There's nothing scarier than seeing the light and joy in someone else's eyes start to dim. 1/2

Epiphany is a season of revelation and manifestation, and as Christians living in the world today we, too, have a role to play. As the Body of Christ, we live as the physical manifestation of God’s presence on earth — the very hands, feet, and heart of Jesus himself.

Epiphany is a season of revelation and manifestation. While God alone is the builder, God call us into active involvement and participation in God’s mission on earth.

On this day: That one time my reporting was cited by Bill Moyers.

My Mondayest of all Mondays turned out half decent. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was the power of self-fulfillment. Either way, I’ll take it.

From Elevation's new university partner, their community covenant banning LGBTQ students. I continue to be saddened that Elevation's marketing (intentionally?) fools LGBTQ people into thinking the church is friendly, welcoming, or affirming.

It's the Mondayest of Mondays, on this first full work week of a new year. If your week is off to anything like mine, things are not going as we originally planned. But that's okay! We can't always choose the journey, but we can roll with the unexpected turns and find new blessings along the way.

I was struck by the comments from Esau McCaulley on a recent Holy Post episode from: Refuse to be the avatar of other people's rage. Don't just yell about the things that upset you. Instead, work to build something constructive.

At church today, we will celebrate the lifelong ministry of our senior pastor, who is retiring. His 14 years with the congregation mirrors my own time there. I’ve had very few leaders I’ve been able to call “my pastor.” He’s one of them. I expect many (happy and bittersweet) tears today.

Someone stole a package off my doorstep sometime overnight on Friday. They very clearly needed their own copy of "Learning Theology: Tracking the Spirit of Christian Faith."

As a church staffer, the absolute best congregational leader/lay leader is the kind who sends reminders and offers check-ins. You saved me from dropping a big ball this weekend, Trish!

The wife of my work church's pastor shared this, and I just thought it was a powerful word: "When you learn how to sit at the same table as your Judas, you'll understand the love of Jesus Christ."

There is no way to overstate the trauma James Dobson caused for countless LGBTQ young people and adults. While he can no longer cause this pain, do not mistake his death as some end. The rabid hatred he proclaimed lives on, and it’s our responsibility to continue to counter it.

Great article from Ryan Burge today. I'm certainly among the 66% entering ministry from a different career. I'm also comfortable with what's most likely in my future — bivocational ministry — something many others are doing, too. What's normative isn't always what's most visible!

In his weekly letter, our senior pastor shared this old fortune cookie message he once got: “You belong to a select group of confused people figuring out why people are confused.” I quite like that!

Textbook lists are out for fall classes. Taking Introduction to Theological Education and Communication for Church & World this semester. Second year of seminary classes starts in just two weeks!

Trying to start my Monday after a long Sunday. Worship at the home church, Charlotte Pride Interfaith Service, monthly Common Table gathering. “Joyfully Exhausted” is best I can come up with to describe this feeling of simultaneous physical tiredness and spiritual fulfillment.

CREC is, like, what? 25,000 people at most? And, yet, it and its leader suck up so much airtime and keystrokes. Why give them all this free publicity?

I’m getting married in a little over 60 days from now, and, maybe I’m a little late to the game, but somehow it just hit me that, yeah, really, I’m actually old enough and adult enough to submit a marriage application? Wild! I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him ❤️

From the article: "I told some friends where I was going, and half the people I told had no clue where on earth Armenia even was." Ask that same group of conservative Christians and you just *know* they have very specific opinions on trans people and drag queens, though.

The unsolicited "Word from the Lord" our church received over the weekend from a "prophet" via email makes zero mention of anything one might associate with the biblical prophets. No justice or mercy for the poor and oppressed. Only anger, wrath, destruction. Methinks this is not from the Lord.

When you hear the word “Baptist,” don’t think Southern Baptist Convention. Instead, think American Baptist Churches USA or Alliance of Baptists, which filed suit this week against immigration raids at houses of worship, similar to another case by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship earlier this year.

Overheard convo from the church preschool… Child: Follow me! I know this place like the back of my hand! Adult: Really? Child: Yeah! This way leads to up there and that way leads to over there!

Grateful for @baptistnews.com being willing to publish my opinion/reflection on @brandanrobertson.bsky.social’s new book, Queer & Christian. Grateful for the new words and widening framework Brandan has provided for my own ministry work. baptistnews.com/article/quee...

So, um, is there actually a way to link out on a TikTok? Doesn’t even seem I can include a link other than IG or YT on my profile. Anyways, my third experiment with a reel: Yes, liberal and progressive Christians do exist! I’m kinda digging this!

TikTok/Reel no. 2: The Many Other Kinds of Baptists. (I’m themattcomer on TikTok; follow me! And give Dr. Stell a follow there too drwilliamstell) Unless I’ve done something wrong, I am not a fan of being unable to access more advanced editing features when using the built-in stitch function.

Trying something new! My first reel on TikTok! Follow me there: themattcomer. I’m mostly experimenting with this for work, but I’m looking forward to being able to share my thoughts in a different way and learn along with everyone!

I am beyond grateful for the opportunity I have to lead and serve with Common Table. (Check it out: commontableclt.com) Tonight’s gathering of diverse people with their own stories and experiences was yet another sure sign of the Holy Spirit moving in new and awesome ways.

Ending this week on a happy note, grateful for the support of my denomination’s grant for my second certificate course of study for the 2025-26 academic year. I’m at ~90% sure about applying for the seminary’s full MDiv program. Keep me in your prayers as I continue to discern.

What an absolutely horrific story of church leaders violating trust, especially that of a minor child... who isn't even in their pastoral care anymore! Why is Bethel children's director Melissa Anderson so obsessed with this 14-year-old boy?! Yikes! www.yahoo.com/news/b...

Popped in to one of the final team planning meetings before this year’s Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade. Looking forward to a great interfaith service this year. Also, be sure to give a quick thanks to any pride board, staff, or volunteers you know or see. These folks are working hard!

Help me out, y’all: When considering reading two books on same/similar concept by two different authors with (at least some) opposing/contrasting views, which is the best to read first? The view more likely to align with yours, or the view more likely out of alignment with yours?

I told my fiancé last week that I was wasting too much time on social media — ~1.5 hours each morning, scrolling and reading random, interesting, but ultimately unfulfilling articles. I’ve dropped my socials time to ~20 minutes and filled the rest with reading. It’s been amazing.

“…[O]ur power comes from our ability to lay claim to the Bible as a tool for our liberation in the same way that millions of oppressed peoples have done throughout the ages.” — @brandanrobertson.bsky.social in “Queer & Christian: Reclaiming the Bible, Our Faith, and Our Place at the Table”

“The Bible is final, but human understanding of the Bible is never final or complete or finished. … Baptists did not begin and apparently did not intend to live their faith as a static, rigidly fixed and inflexible group of disciples.” — Walter B. Shurden

The Catholics and Anglicans/Episcopalians (à la magisterial Protestantism) are having a great Fourth of July dreaming up ways to undo the First Amendment. Important reminder: Christian nationalism is not within the exclusive purview of evangelicals and fundamentalists.

Finally found a simple floating frame I liked. Two years since I’d gotten these Bible leaves. From a 1615 King James printed in London. The passages are Acts 6-8:39 — Choosing of the first deacons, Stephen’s speech and execution, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and more.

Something about the upcoming Independence Day hit me this weekend. After two decades of procrastinating, I started my Sons of the American Revolution application. It’s been surprisingly easier than I thought! (Thanks past family members as geeked out about genealogy as me.) 🇺🇸

Great to hear from @stevenrharmon.bsky.social on his experience in Rome, “Baptist Reflections on a Catholic Conclave,” during Sunday school hour at church this morning. St. John’s Baptist is lucky to have you, Steve!

I retrieved all the files I wanted (thankfully most already in the cloud, and these will be there soon), but I also saved a treasure trove of emails. I wish I knew a better way to archive old emails. They're all so precariously "saved." (I do not envy the job of archivists in this digital age.)