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…
Conference to offer youth multidimensional view of faith
ORLANDO (ABP) — More than 1,600 youth from Baptist, Episcopalian and Presbyterian traditions will get a three-dimensional view of Christianity during a youth conference in January. And, oh yes, they get to go to Disney World. “Faith in 3D” is…
Confirmation of Alito would shift court firmly to right, experts say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush's nomination of federal appeals judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court could shift the court firmly to the right — immediately and for decades to come — on issues such as abortion rights and the…
Waco pastor Kyle Lake killed in freak baptism accident
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Kyle Lake, 33-year-old pastor of the innovative University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, was electrocuted and died Oct. 30 after he grabbed a microphone while in a baptistry full of water. According to eyewitness reports, Lake…
Experts warn electrocution dangers lurk around church baptistries
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Electricity and water create a potentially deadly combination, but metal — not microphones themselves — present the greatest danger to people in baptistries, according to acoustic and church-building consultants. The issue came to the forefront when…
Missouri Baptists narrow membership to exclude CBF, moderate churches
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (ABP) — The Missouri Baptist Convention is no longer open to churches that support any other organization considered to compete with the state convention or the Southern Baptist Convention. The changes will shut out congregations that participate in…
Baylor will reduce board size; is it efficiency or politics?
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Baylor University regents approved a charter change to downsize the school's governing board from 36 to 16 members over nine years and agreed to a 7.8 percent tuition hike for 2006-07. Chairman Will Davis of Austin…
Shocking withdrawal of Miers raises stakes for Supreme Court replacement
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Conservatives breathed a sigh of relief Oct. 27 after the surprise announcement that White House Counsel Harriet Miers had withdrawn her nomination for an open seat on the Supreme Court. But her change of heart — in…
Methodist woman finds ministry home as associate pastor in Baptist church
RUTLEDGE, Tenn. (ABP) — Betty Shirley uses the word “ironic” to explain how she, a United Methodist, became associate pastor of a Baptist church in a small, conservative Tennessee town. Last spring, Shirley was expecting appointment to a congregation within…
Baylor may reduce board size; is it efficiency or more politics?
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Baylor University regents are expected to consider a proposal at their Oct. 28 meeting that would reduce substantially the size of the school's governing board over the next several years — eventually cutting it to less…
Alterations to housing bill spark religious outcry
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A wide variety of religious and political leaders are expressing outrage over House leaders' last-minute alterations to an affordable-housing bill they say discriminate against religious groups. The House passed a bill late Oct. 26 that would exclude…