ATLANTA (ABP) — Baptists focused attention on social and global ills — materialism, climate change, HIV/AIDS and apathy — during the second day of a unity meeting in Atlanta. Tony Campolo, Al Gore and John Grisham provided the notable speeches…
Campolo to Baptists: ‘Rise up, you suckers, and do the work of Jesus’
ATLANTA (ABP) — Author Tony Campolo challenged Baptists from across North America to examine which Jesus they preach — the one who incarnates American values or the one who incarnates God. Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University near Philadelphia, and…
After violence erupts again, Buckner cancels mission trips to Kenya until May
DALLAS (ABP) — All Buckner International mission trips to Kenya will be cancelled through May 2008, agency President Ken Hall said. The decision comes after violent unrest prompted by tainted presidential elections there Dec. 27. The announcement follows a previous…
Baptist chaplains provide spiritual care to Marines at Camp Pendleton
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (ABP) — The 2000 suicide attack of the USS Cole in Yemen made Sunny Mitchell realize she wanted to become a Navy chaplain. “I knew some of the sailors on the Cole, and I wanted to be…
Baptist unity takes center stage as New Covenant meeting opens
ATLANTA (ABB) — Baptist unity took center stage during the opening night of the New Baptist Covenant convocation in Atlanta Jan. 30. About 10,000 African-American, Anglo, Asian-American and Hispanic Baptists gathered at the urging of former President Jimmy Carter and…
Baptists Mike Huckabee, Rick Warren to speak at preaching conference
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and best-selling author Rick Warren, both ordained Southern Baptist pastors, will speak about how to use the pulpit to address political, social and cultural issues at a preaching conference in April….
Unity the focus of Baptist gathering, organizers insist
ATLANTA (ABP) — If a spirit of unity prevails at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, organizers of the historic interracial meeting said Jan. 30, they will consider the gathering a success. And participants in the event will remain…
Burleson, outspoken pastor and blogger, resigns from International Mission Board
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Wade Burleson, the prominent pastor and blogger who railed against what he saw as an excessive narrowing of parameters within the Southern Baptist Convention, has resigned from his position as a trustee of the SBC's International…
At final State of Union speech, would-be successors eclipse Bush
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In his valedictory State of the Union address Jan. 28, President Bush attempted to cement his legacy on a handful of issues important to religious voters while much of the nation focused on the race to choose…
Executive director nominee Everett to unify BGCT around ‘mission passion’
DALLAS (ABP) — Mission work, Christian education and advocacy are the three tasks that can unite Baptists in the Lone Star state, according to the nominee for executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Randel Everett, pastor of…
Opinion: Worshiping with helmets
Recent reports about the age of messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention have alerted some to the “graying” of the convention. Specifically, the percentage of messengers aged 18-39 dropped from a high of 35.9 percent in 1985 to a low…
Obama, in South Carolina win, shows cross-religious appeal
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Exit polls showed that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama swept all religious categories of voters — from the most faithful to the less devout — in dominating the South Carolina Democratic primary Jan. 26. However, the media consortium…