WASHINGTON (ABP) — Confirming the hopes of some and the fears of others, the new line-up of justices on the Supreme Court has agreed to revisit the issue of whether the government can ban a controversial late-term abortion procedure. The…
Supreme Court upholds RFRA in saying OK to sacramental drug
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A unanimous Supreme Court said Feb. 21 that a federal religious-freedom law protects an obscure sect that practices sacramental use of a hallucinogenic tea. In its first major religious-freedom ruling under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court…
CBF leaders adopt budget increase, new oversight for meeting planners
ATLANTA (ABP) — In a quiet meeting Feb. 16-17, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Coordinating Council approved a slight budget increase for 2006-2007, approved a new oversight structure for the committee that plans the Fellowship's annual meeting and continued the group's…
First Baptist of Jacksonville elects Brunson as pastor
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.. (ABP) – First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., has elected Donald McCall “Mac” Brunson as pastor, confirming speculation about a leadership change in one of the nation's largest congregations. Brunson, 48, preached in the Feb. 19 Sunday morning…
Songs, Scripture, sex suggest seduction, God’s way
(ABP) — Guy Bickel says romance and passion come before sex, instead of the other way around. And he's using the Bible as proof. Bickel, a Tampa, Fla., resident, spent months studying six different Bible translations, developing music in a…
IMB may rescind motion asking for trustee Burleson’s dismissal
ATLANTA (ABP) — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board will ask the agency's trustees to rescind an action that asked for the removal of one of their fellow trustees. But the controversy surrounding the trustee in question,…
Southern Baptist missions suffering under NAMB’s leadership, report says
ATLANTA (ABP) — The number of career missionaries funded by the North American Mission Board has dropped 10 percent since 1997, according to a newspaper report, despite promises the restructured Southern Baptist agency would expand the mission work in America….
UPDATED: Media consultant hired by Reccord benefits from NAMB downsizing
ATLANTA (ABP) — Steve Sanford, a paid consultant who advised the North American Mission Board to outsource most of its media operations, has been hired to provide many of those outsourced services by his longtime friend, NAMB president Bob Reccord….
Moderate Texas divinity school receives ATS accreditation
ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — Logsdon Seminary, one the many Baptist divinity schools founded after fundamentalists took over the Southern Baptist Convention's seminaries, has gained recognition from the primary accrediting agency for theological schools in the United States and Canada. The…
10th Alabama Baptist church burns as authorities speculate
BEAVERTON, Ala. (ABP) — A day after another rural Baptist church in Alabama burned Feb. 11, authorities were speculating that the rash of 10 arsons in 10 days is the work of a pair who may be “bosom buddies.” This…
Focus on the Family supports Colo. bill to offer some rights to gay couples
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As the political battle over same-sex marriage heats up again in Washington, an unusual debate over gay rights is raising some eyebrows in Colorado. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) announced Feb. 10 he would schedule a…
Mark Noll leaving Wheaton for post at Notre Dame
WHEATON, Ill. (ABP) — One of evangelical Christianity's premier scholars will leave one of its premier institutions of higher learning for a position at a premier Catholic university, according to news reports. The website of the magazine Christianity Today reported…