NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist pastor from Oklahoma compared the way his fellow conservatives treat women in ministry to treatment of African-Americans by previous generations. "History will one day look back on how we Baptists in the 21st…
Pastor urges respect for women in ministry
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist pastor from Oklahoma compared the way his fellow conservatives treat women in ministry to treatment of African Americans by previous generations. "History will one day look back on how we Baptists in the…
Faith groups begin media blitz for health-care reform
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama will participate in a national call-in and audio webcast on health reform with religious leaders Aug. 19. Faith leaders made the announcement Aug. 10 in a conference call with reporters. It is one of several…
Speaker says Baptists must move beyond status quo
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — Baptists must relinquish the status quo in order to unleash God's power, participants at the New Baptist Covenant's Midwest regional gathering were warned. That may mean revising a concept proposed about a decade ago — creation…
Gaza pastor says slain bookstore manager was martyr
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — The widow of a Christian who was martyred by Muslims in the Gaza Strip prays for revenge, but not the usual kind, her friend Hanna Massad told participants at the New Baptist Covenant regional meeting in…
Doctor says church has role to play in health-care reform
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — Since the church has abdicated its responsibility for providing health care in America, Christians should help and not hinder the government as it seeks solutions to the nation's medical crisis, a physician with experience in public…
Pastor says the poor depending on Baptist witness
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — The plight of poor people depends significantly upon Baptists' determination to retain their spiritual legacy, an urban pastor who spent a decade ministering in one of the nation's poorest counties told participants at the New Baptist…
Sermon text: Poverty and the Baptist Legacy in the World
There is a scene in the book of Nehemiah where Nehemiah has inspected the conditions of Jerusalem and has called the people together. He informs them of the situation as he sees it and then calls them to action saying,…
Baptists challenged to overcome racial barriers
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — If they hope to represent Christ in the world, Baptists must find a "better way" of relating than the racism that has marred their witness for most of the past two centuries, participants in a multicultural…
Carter planning return trip to Gaza
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — Former President Jimmy Carter said Aug. 7 he is planning a return trip to Gaza in an effort to focus international attention on what he describes as a humanitarian crisis. Carter, who sparked controversy in June…
Oklahoma governor says faith sustained family in loss of child
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — In rare public comments about religion, Oklahoma's Democratic governor told a Baptist gathering Aug. 7 that his Christian faith got him through personal loss two decades ago when an infant daughter died of a rare neuromuscular…
LifeWay says 1 in 8 church background checks finds record
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — One in eight background checks conducted on volunteers or prospective employees through LifeWay Christian Resources found a criminal history that might have kept an individual from working or volunteering at a church, the Southern Baptist Convention…