ALEXANDRIA, La. (ABP) –Trustees of the Baptist Message of Louisiana, who last month were rebuffed in an effort to dissolve their independent board, unanimously elected conservative Oregon pastor Kelly Boggs as editor. Boggs, 45, pastor of Valley Baptist Church in…
Louisiana College probation lifted after controversial policies reversed
PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) — Louisiana College will remain fully accredited, school officials learned recently, after the Baptist school rescinded several policies critics said impinged on academic freedom. The Pineville school had been on probation since December 2004 following a visit…
Moncrief, missions pioneer of inner-city, dead at 60
ATLANTA (ABP) — Legendary Southern Baptist home missionary Terry Moncrief died Dec. 7 at his suburban Atlanta home following a year-long battle with brain cancer. Moncrief, 60, was director of Techwood Baptist Center, established to minister in the nation's first…
Updated: Execution deadline nears for Baptist, 3 other Christian hostages in Iraq
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As everyone from Jesse Jackson to a radical Muslim cleric pleaded Dec. 7 for mercy, abductors holding a British Baptist and three Christian peace activists hostage in Iraq reportedly extended the deadline for their demands to be…
Updated: N.C. moderates ponder alternatives to support colleges, agencies
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) – Some moderate Baptists in North Carolina are talking seriously about alternative ways to support the state's Baptist colleges and institutions, a move that could divert millions in contributions from the conservative-controlled Baptist State Convention of North…
‘Lion, Witch and Wardrobe’ carries message for those who want to see it
(ABP) — Lights! Camera! Allegory? Whether viewers find a distinctly Christian message in the new movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” depends on whether they found one in the C.S. Lewis fantasy novel it's…
Defenders call for support of evangelicals convicted of 1997 Mexican massacre
SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico (ABP) — Sixteen men, mostly evangelical Christians, implicated in the 1997 Acteal massacre in southern Mexico now face 36 years in prison after their final appeal was denied by a three-judge panel Nov. 30. Sergio Nafare, defense…
Arkansas college president leads field of candidates at Samford University
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Andrew Westmoreland, president of Arkansas Baptists' Ouachita Baptist University, is the leading candidate to become president of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Westmoreland visited the Samford campus Dec. 6 to meet with three constituent panels —…
Rick Warren hosts AIDS conference to reverse evangelicals’ neglect
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) -– The pastor at the Southern Baptist Convention's largest church used a conference timed to conclude on World AIDS Day to announce a new commitment to caring for the millions of people infected with HIV and…
Indiana legislature’s prayers must Delete ‘Christ’, federal judge says
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — A federal judge in Indiana has said that state's practice of allowing explicitly Christian prayers to open legislative sessions violates the Constitution. In a Nov. 30 ruling, Federal District Judge David Hamilton ordered a halt to official…
Supreme court hears arguments on abortion-clinic protesters
WASHINGTON (ABP) — On a day when anti-abortion protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court's building, the justices inside concerned themselves with a decades-old case on whether federal law can ban certain protests at abortion clinics. The Nov. 30 arguments in…
Illinois pastor heads to Iraq but leaves church in good hands
ATLANTA (ABP) — For years, Jorge Zayasbazan's mission has been starting churches. But as his National Guard unit soon heads to Iraq, he will have an entirely different mission. Zayasbazan, pastor of Grace Chapel in Round Lake Beach, Ill., will…