WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama, in an unprecedented Aug. 19 Internet conference that organizers said drew 140,000 participants, appealed to faith leaders to boost his attempts to reform America’s health-care system. But some conservative religious leaders are fighting back against Obama’s plan,…
Youth minister found guilty of molestation
TUCSON, Ariz. (ABP) — A jury in Tucson, Ariz., convicted a former youth minister at a Southern Baptist church Aug. 19 of molesting a 13-year-old girl over the course of a year. According to the Arizona Daily Star, jurors deliberated…
Piper says tornado warning to Lutherans
John Piper MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — A Baptist pastor and popular Calvinist author says it was no accident that tornado-force winds hit downtown Minneapolis the same week that the nation's largest Lutheran group was meeting there to debate liberalizing its policies…
John Piper says possible tornado a warning to Lutherans
John Piper MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — A Baptist pastor and popular Calvinist author says it was no accident that tornado-force winds hit downtown Minneapolis the same week that the nation’s largest Lutheran group was meeting there to debate liberalizing its policies…
Baptists respond to Taiwan typhoon
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptists in Taiwan are assisting victims of Typhoon Morakot, which made landfall in the southern part of the island just before midnight on Aug. 7 and has caused some of the most widespread destruction in…
Professor chooses church over seminary job
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — A music professor has taken early retirement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rather than resigning a part-time position and moving his membership from a church that the Southern Baptist Convention declared out of fellowship in…
Former HMB president says NAMB merger was a mistake
CENTRALIA, Mo. (ABP) — Combining three Southern Baptist agencies into the North American Mission Board in 1995 was a bad idea, says the last president of one of the agencies. Larry Lewis, president of the Home Mission Board of the…
Texas Baptist youth minister dies in hiking accident
NEW HOME, Texas (ABP) — A Baptist church in Texas is mourning the loss of its new youth minister, who was killed in a hiking accident at a state park. Nathan Neel, 24, recently started working as youth minister at…
Jailed former pastor cited ‘passion’ for working with youth
Duffer YORKTOWN, Va. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist youth pastor charged with sex crimes involving a teenage girl in Virginia once resigned as pastor of a church in Hawaii to begin a new ministry, citing his "passion" for working with…
North Carolina convention cuts jobs
CARY, N.C. (ABP) — With income trailing last year’s gifts by 3.2 percent or $647,000 through seven months, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has laid off three people and eliminated six positions, effective immediately. Two of the…
Anderson helps homeless ‘get back on their feet’ in North Carolina
SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. (ABP) — James walked in Union Mission’s building with purpose. He stood tall, proud but worried. His shift had been eliminated and now he didn’t have a job or a place to live. He spent the previous…
Samford cancels event featuring Rick Pitino
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Samford University has canceled an upcoming event featuring Rick Pitino, the University of Louisville basketball coach in the news for a scandal involving adultery and abortion. Philip Poole, executive director of university communication at the Baptist-affiliated…