AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (ABP) — Christians and Muslims should speak with each other rather than about each other, a prominent European Baptist leader told reporters prior to a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Baptist movement July 24. Tony Peck,…
Pastor: National Guard, hospitals were prepared for church-bus crash
SHREVEPORT, La. (ABP) — Both a National Guard unit that responded at the scene of a July 12 church-bus accident and the hospital where most of the victims were taken had recently received training for situations similar to what actually…
Leland Center moves into Baptist World Alliance building
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — A Baptist seminary serving students in the region of the nation’s capital has moved in with an organization that serves as Baptists’ international umbrella group. The John Leland Center for Theological Studies has moved its…
Anti-gay church says God hates the world
TOPEKA, Kan. (ABP) — An independent Baptist church best known for picketing military funerals with placards proclaiming “God hates fags” and “God hates America” is going global. Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. — whose 75-member congregation is composed almost…
Researcher says hypocrisy not biggest obstacle to evangelism
A former seminary professor, Thom Rainer has led LifeWay Christian Resources since 2006. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — People who don’t attend church are not too bothered by what they view as hypocrisy in the church, but there are some…
Longtime denominational worker Ernest Mosley dies
GASTONIA, N.C. (ABP) — Ernest Mosley, a longtime denominational worker who served the Southern Baptist Convention during a tumultuous period when two factions vied for control of nation’s second-largest faith group, died July 8 after a nearly year-long battle with…
Pastor’s accused killer faces mental evaluation
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (ABP) — A man accused of gunning down an Illinois Baptist pastor in the middle of a worship service last March will undergo court-ordered testing to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. His booking photo from…
Q & A on American Baptist diversity with Samuel Chetti
Samuel Chetti PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — Samuel Chetti is the executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles and Congregations of the Southwest and Hawaii — the most diverse region in the nation’s most diverse mainline Protestant denomination….
News analysis: American Baptists celebrate, struggle with diversity
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — The makeup of the American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse in American Christianity — ethnically, regionally and ideologically. Gathering for their ABC biennial meeting June 25-28 in a region that embodies that diversity,…
Baptist paper issues apology to Okla. gov
OKLAHOMA CITY (ABP) — A Baptist newspaper in Oklahoma has apologized for publishing a graphic illustration digitally edited to make it appear a controversial proclamation declaring America a Christian nation was endorsed by the state's Baptist governor. The Baptist Messenger,…
Baptist newspaper apologizes for misusing governor’s signature
OKLAHOMA CITY (ABP) — A Baptist newspaper in Oklahoma has apologized for publishing a graphic illustration digitally edited to make it appear a controversial proclamation declaring America a Christian nation was endorsed by the state's Baptist governor. The Baptist Messenger,…
Youth minister hurt in bus wreck released from hospital
SHREVEPORT, La. (ABP) — A Baptist church’s youth minister is recovering at home from injuries he received July 12 when the bus carrying his youth group to a Georgia camp rolled over on a Mississippi interstate highway, injuring 23 passengers…