MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (ABP) — Asking whether women should be ordained to the ministry is the wrong question, according to Baptist professor Curtis Freeman. “The question is, ‘Who is being gifted in the church?’” said Freeman, research professor of theology…
Opinion: The future of American Christianity
(ABP) — Trinity College’s American Religious Identification Survey was released March 9. Its headline finding, as summarized by USA Today: “Faith is shifting, drifting or vanishing outright.” The news that “almost all denominations are losing ground” is sobering indeed. It…
Opinion: The future of American Christianity
(ABP) — Trinity College’s American Religious Identification Survey was released March 9. Its headline finding, as summarized by USA Today: “Faith is shifting, drifting or vanishing outright.” The news that “almost all denominations are losing ground” is sobering indeed. It…
Christian comic, former SNL star, labels Obama a communist
NEW YORK (ABP) — Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and conservative Christian comedienne Victoria Jackson said in a Fox News interview March 9 that President Obama is a communist and that what America needs is the Bible. "My motivation…
Martial-arts seminar at Baptist school leads kung-fu master to Christ
Kung-fu master Liu Chang. (PHOTO/Bluefield College) BLUEFIELD, Va. (ABP) — Taiwanese kung-fu master Liu Chang probably didn't think a routine seminar he led at Virginia Baptist-affiliated Bluefield College would lead to him converting to Christianity. But that's just what happened. Liu,…
CBF field personnel direct training center, minister to villagers in Belize
ATLANTA (ABP) — Recently appointed as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel in Belize, North Carolina natives Eric and Julie Maas serve as the directors of the Western Region Baptist Training Center. Started in the 1980s by Baptist missionaries, the 10-acre-camp…
Police investigate money missing from Missouri Baptist nursing school
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (ABP) — Police in Springfield, Mo., are investigating the suspected embezzlement of more than $500,000 from a nursing school operated jointly by a Baptist university and a Catholic hospital. The Springfield News-Leader reported March 11 that St. John's College…
Wedgwood pastor to preach Sunday at grieving Illinois church
This photo of Fred Winters and his family appears on First Baptist Church's Facebook page. MARYVILLE, Ill. (ABP) — One week after its senior pastor was shot and killed while delivering a sermon, an Illinois church will welcome as its…
Therapeutic robot takes center stage for residents of retirement community
{youtube}Vx8mv87e6wE{/youtube} RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) – There’s a new resident at Lakewood Manor, one of Virginia Baptist Homes’ retirement communities. Paro is by far the furriest member of the Lakewood community and he takes his meals through a battery charger, not…
Baptist pastor accused of setting fire to church
BELTON, S.C. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist pastor in South Carolina is facing arson charges after allegedly setting fire to his own church building March 8. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced March 9 the arrest of Christopher Daniels,…
Bill to permit guns in churches revived in wake of pastor’s shooting
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — An Arkansas lawmaker says she will reintroduce a bill to allow concealed weapons in churches after a deadly Illinois church shooting March 8. State Rep. Beverly Pyle (R-Cedarville) originally introduced a measure Jan. 29 to remove "any…
Obama ends Bush restrictions on embryonic stem-cell study
WASHINGTON (ABP) — With a March 9 executive order, President Obama made official what many scientists had long anticipated — and many religious conservatives had long feared — lifting his predecessor’s effective ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research….