MEGIDDO, Israel (ABP) — The ruins of an ancient Christian church, found within the walls of an Israeli prison, may prove to be one of the earliest churches ever discovered and could change the historical understanding of the Christian church…
Neutrality in Baylor fray gives new ‘reconciler’ president advantage
WACO, Texas (ABP) — John Lilley has kept his distance from the ideological battle that has divided Baylor University's constituents into two camps. That distance — 2004 miles to be exact — and Lilley's reputation as a reconciler may be…
State Department report identifies global religious-freedom problems
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The State Department's annual report on the state of religious freedom around the globe stars the usual villains but also contains some new bright spots. “In some countries, we find their leaders have modified laws and policies…or…
Corrections
In the story, “Baptist 'brewhaha': Leaders deny reports volunteers refused to pass out water,” issued Nov. 3, please replace the second paragraph with the following: A Fort Myers, Fla., television news crew first reported the alleged incident Oct. 28. NBC-2…
Baylor elects Nevada educator, alum John Lilley as president
WACO, Texas (ABP) — After several fits and starts, Baylor University's search for new leadership has produced a president — John Lilley, current president of the University of Nevada, Reno, and a three-time graduate of Baylor. Lilley, 66, was elected…
Conservatives claim school survey, ruling ‘undermine’ parental rights
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In what has become something of a regular ritual, conservative groups are expressing outrage at a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — this one involving parents' rights and sex education. Socially conservative groups…
Homeless ministry in New Orleans adapts to new reality post-Katrina
NEW ORLEANS (ABP) — What do you do when you run a homeless shelter and the city has evacuated all the homeless? That's the situation facing Tobey Pitman, director of the Brantley Mission Center in New Orleans. As the city…
Cutting socials programs is wrong way to balance budget, religious leaders say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Religious leaders are calling on the consciences of members of Congress to avoid cutting social-welfare programs and taxes at the same time. “This is the message going out [from Congress]: In response to Hurricane Katrina, we're going…
Thousands of mourners ’embrace beauty’ in life of electrocuted Waco pastor
WACO, Texas (ABP) — For many, it was only appropriate to remember Kyle Lake on All Saints Day, two days after the 33-year-old pastor of University Baptist Church died after being electrocuted while standing in the church's baptistry. “Kyle, in…
Baptist ‘brewhaha’: Leaders deny reports volunteers refused to pass out water
CLEWISTON, Fla. (ABP) — Southern Baptist disaster-relief leaders are denying reports, spread widely across the Internet, that a group of their volunteers in Florida refused to give water to victims of Hurricane Wilma because it came from a beer-brewing company….
Court hears case on Christian sect’s use of hallucinogen in worship
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Hearing a case on All Saints' Day, the Supreme Court struggled with the rights of a tiny Christian group whose members believe the road to sainthood is lined with cups of a hallucinogenic tea the federal government…
Civil-rights pioneer in civic, Baptist life in Texas dies
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — As national civil-rights champion Rosa Parks lay in honor in the United States Capitol Oct. 31, a local pioneer in advancing the cause of racial justice died in Texas. Volma Overton, a longtime civil-rights activist in…