WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new poll released by the Pew Research Center Aug. 19 shows a sharp uptick in the percentage of Americans who are confused about President Obama’s faith. It also shows that a slight majority of Americans don’t…
Baptist executives urge federal recognition of Virginia tribes
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — The top executives of two Virginia Baptist groups have joined other religious leaders in calling for federal recognition of six Native American tribes in the state. John Upton Cessar Scott In an open letter released Aug….
Georgia Baptist church fire ruled arson
DUBLIN, Ga. (ABP) — Officials offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information about a fire that destroyed a Baptist church in Dublin, Ga. An Aug. 13 blaze destroyed the 50-year-old sanctuary of Dublin's Central Baptist Church. Ellis Carswell,…
Analysis: Legal status of mosque project clear; pluralism’s status not
WASHINGTON (ABP) — One thing is settled in the controversy over building an Islamic cultural center near the former World Trade Center site in New York: There is no legal impediment to the facility rising there. But, say experts in…
Church-state group discourages using public land for ‘Ground Zero mosque’
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A church-state watchdog group said a proposal by New York's governor to relocate a controversial Islamic center proposed in New York City to publicly owned property is legally flawed and should be abandoned. Barry Lynn, executive director…
Controversial theologian Clark Pinnock dies
HAMILTON, Ontario (ABP) — Clark Pinnock, an influential theologian whose spiritual pilgrimage led him from a fiery fundamentalism as a young professor to an openness that caused some to brand him a heretic, died Aug. 15 of a heart attack….
Judge throws out Missouri funeral protest law
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A federal judge ruled Aug. 16 that a Missouri law banning protests at or near funerals is unconstitutional. In 2006 Missouri passed a law prohibiting picketers within 300 feet of a memorial service. It was…
Hispanic evangelicals warn GOP against alienating Latino voters
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Leaders of the nation’s largest Hispanic evangelical organization warned leaders of the Republican Party Aug. 17 that their increasingly strident rhetoric on immigration puts the party at risk of losing an entire generation of Latino voters. Samuel…
Georgians learn German from Austrians thanks to Virginia Baptists
TBILISI, Georgia — An eight-day camp in the Caucasus Mountains to learn German may not sound like much of a vacation to some Americans. But for the young Georgians ages 12 to 23 who participated in the camp this summer,…