NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Discounted criminal-background checks offered by LifeWay Christian Resources found more than 600 felony offenses in checks for the 900-plus churches and organizations that have purchased the service in its first two years. Since contracting with backgroundchecks.com…
New poll finds large overlap in Religious Right, Tea Party
WASHINGTON (ABP) – A new poll suggests that, contrary to some media characterizations, the Tea Party movement has significant overlap with the Religious Right and the Republican Party. The third biennial American Values Survey, released by the Public Religion Research…
Justices struggle with free-speech limits in arguments over church
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The justices of the Supreme Court struggled Oct. 6 over where to draw the line between freedom of highly unpopular speech and the freedom of a dead soldier’s family to mourn in private. The high court heard…
Mohler criticizes Nobel selection of in-vitro-fertilization inventor
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist theologian is criticizing the selection of a British biologist who pioneered the technology of in vitro fertilization as winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in medicine. Cambridge University professor Robert Edwards is winner of…
BJC board discusses state of liberty
WASHINGTON (ABP) – Directors of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, meeting in Washington Oct. 4-5, discussed the tenuous state of religious freedom in America and heard of the organization’s continuing search for property on Capitol Hill. At their…
Church administrators to focus on risk management
DALLAS (ABP) – A jury in Florida recently ordered a prominent Southern Baptist church to pay $4.75 million to a man injured seven years ago on a youth ski trip — and such verdicts are inspiring church administrators to take…
SBC ethics czar Land comes out in favor of Tennessee mosque
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — After opposing the building of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, the Southern Baptist Convention's chief spokesman on public policy has come out in support of Muslims seeking to build a new Islamic…
Clergy sex abuse ‘pervasive,’ study co-author says
WACO, Texas (ABP) — While newspapers carried headlines about high-profile sexual-coercion lawsuits filed against Atlanta mega-church pastor Eddie Long, a Baptist researcher said the problem of clergy sexual abuse is much larger than a few charismatic leaders who abuse their…
‘Heaven’s Rain’ tells story of forgiveness
OKLAHOMA CITY (ABP) — A son of Southern Baptist missionaries who survived the home-invasion murder of his parents in 1979 and later went on to advocate for victims' rights as Oklahoma's youngest-ever state senator brings his story to the big…