NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Former Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page is being nominated as president of the SBC Executive Committee, one of three key leadership positions in the nation's second-largest faith group that are currently in the process of…
Baptist peace group counters NRA convention
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America co-sponsored a "peaceful alternative" to a National Rifle Association national convention that attracted an estimated 70,000 visitors to Charlotte, N.C., May 14-16. Along with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence,…
Final U.S. Baptist released from Haitian jail
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (ABP) — The last of 10 Americans detained while trying to take 33 children out of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake was released May 17 after a judge found her guilty and sentenced her to time already…
SBC membership decline continued in 2009, but baptisms increased
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the third consecutive year in 2009, according to statistics reported May 14 by LifeWay Christian Resources. Southern Baptist churches reported total membership of 16,160,088 in 2009. That is…
MBC’s goal is control or assets of remaining litigants, attorneys say
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Regaining control is the heart of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s ongoing legal action against three formerly affiliated institutions. If control cannot be restored, then the convention would like its “stuff” returned, a judge learned May…
Grand jury hears evidence in Texas church-arson cases
Jason Bourque TYLER, Texas (ABP) — A grand jury began hearing testimony May 13 in the case of two men suspected of burning down 10 churches in East Texas in January and February, a television station in Tyler, Texas, reported….
American Baptist leaders support immigration reform
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — More than two dozen national and regional leaders of American Baptist Churches USA signed a letter supporting immigration reform that reflects "mercy and justice rooted in God's love." "We do not claim any superior understanding…
Former youth pastor sentenced to 17 years for abuse
YORK, Va. (ABP) — A former youth pastor at a Southern Baptist church in Virginia has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls. Jack Duffer Jeremy Duffer — known as "Pastor Jack" to youth…
Louisiana House passes bill allowing guns in church
BATON ROUGE, La. (ABP) — Reversing an earlier vote, Louisiana's House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly May 12 in favor of a bill that would allow concealed handguns to be carried inside houses of worship. State Rep. Henry Burns The bill's…