Obama could have a prayer among Ohio’s white evangelicals

The Rev. Chris Beard is a theological conservative, make no mistake about it. He believes the Bible is the word of God. He believes the Holy Spirit speaks to him directly. He believes, as an article of faith, that abortion and same-sex marriage are wrong.

Still, when a group of religious leaders in Ohio held two days of meetings in Cincinnati recently to talk about economic and racial justice, issues usually associated with the political left, there was Beard, a fourth-generation Pentecostal preacher with a disarming smile, a shaved head and a set of convictions that knock holes in the stereotypes about white evangelical Protestants.

“Conservative biblical interpretation requires embracing the text,” Beard said during a break in a daylong symposium on racial equity, a special concern of his. That, he said, “might push us to what society calls progressive engagement.”
Read the rest here