NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Morris Chapman, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, announced plans Sept. 21 to retire at the end of September 2010. Morris Chapman announces retirement plans to the SBC Executive Committee. Chapman, a…
Healing the Sick: Ethicists view health care as a basic right
ATLANTA (ABP) — Human beings are fragile creatures needing health care to flourish and — in many cases — survive, said David Gushee, distinguished university professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. And that…
Nilson Fanini, former BWA president, dies at 77
BEDFORD, Texas (ABP) — Nilson Fanini, a Brazilian pastor and evangelist who served as president of the Baptist World Alliance from 1995 to 2000, died Sept. 19 of complications following a stroke. He was 77. During his term as BWA…
Healing the Sick: Spiritual component key part of parish nursing
BELTON, Texas (ABP) — While a parish nurse could be a boon to the health of many Baptist congregations, many of them — and most nursing students — have little awareness such a ministry exists, according to a Baptist nursing…
Healing the Sick: Religious groups fighting to prevent reform debacle
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The last time a president attempted comprehensive reform of America’s health-insurance system, it went over like the proverbial lead balloon — and conservative religious groups were prominent in the coalition that helped sink the plan. President Clinton’s…
Healing the Sick: Faith-based providers crucial to health reform
Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. DALLAS (ABP) — Faith-based health-care providers can lead the way in developing new models that emphasize wellness and prevention — and create accountable care organizations focused on the needs of patients and their families,…
Healing the Sick: Baylor profs propose alternative reform model
WACO, Texas (ABP) — The United States does not have a health-care problem as much as it has an insurance problem and an income problem, two economists at Baylor University have asserted. And they insist those problems can be solved…
Former BWA president Nilson Fanini dies
BEDFORD, Texas (ABP) — Nilson Fanini, a Brazilian Baptist pastor who led the Baptist World Alliance from 1990 to 1995, died Sept. 19 after a brief illness. Fanini, 77, was hospitalized Sept. 13 with pneumonia while visiting a new granddaughter…
Church-state groups press Holder to withdraw Bush-era hiring memo
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Supporters of the separation of church and state are urging Attorney General Eric Holder to fulfill a campaign promise by President Obama to combat religious discrimination in hiring. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the…
Florida principal, athletic director not guilty of contempt of court
PENSACOLA, Fla. (ABP) — A federal judge in Florida ruled Sept. 17 that a blessing at an athletic banquet did not violate her court order telling a school district's leaders to refrain from promoting religious activity at school events. Following…
EDITORIAL: Dr. Micah’s health care prescription
What will our nation do about health care? That question dominates the American social and political landscape this autumn. But another question hovers in the mists of that landscape. It’s almost as important and perhaps even more troubling: Will U.S….
Open mission positions may be ‘God moment,’ says SBC task force chair
ROGERS, Ark. (ABP) — Impending vacancies in the top leadership positions of the Southern Baptist Convention’s two mission boards offer unique opportunities for the denomination, says the chair of a task force examining how the SBC should most effectively structure…