WASHINGTON (ABP) — Shortly before leaving town for their Thanksgiving break, members of Congress slipped into a spending bill a provision that supporters say limits “discrimination” against anti-abortion hospitals but that opponents say will circumvent state laws intended to guarantee…
Louisiana College board responds to accrediting agency study
PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) — The trustees of Louisiana College have responded to criticisms from the school's accreditation agency Nov. 14, but the response may not be sufficient to overcome a special study committee's concerns about recent academic freedom and goverance….
Louisiana College president pick Yarnell withdraws, citing ‘governance issues’
PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) — Almost two months to the day after Louisiana College trustees elected Texas educator Malcolm Yarnell as president of the school, he declined the position because of an ongoing controversy over governance and accreditation of the Baptist…
Billy Graham crusade returns to L.A., where storied career began in a tent
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — Billy Graham's four-day Los Angeles crusade ended Nov. 21 with more than 80,000 people converging on the Rose Bowl on a chilly Sunday afternoon. They were among the 312,000 people who attended the four-day revival, 55…
Quiet South Carolina convention adopts stable budget, South Asia partnership
COLUMBIA, S.C. (ABP) — In quiet but efficient fashion, messengers to the 184th annual session of the South Carolina Baptist Convention elected a veteran pastor from Greer as president, adopted a 2005 budget that does not increase from this year,…
California church-restoration bill now headed to Bush’s desk
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Congress has sent President Bush a bill that would fund restoration of 21 historic church buildings in California. Bush received the “California Missions Preservation Act” (H.R. 1446) Nov. 20 after the House passed it in final form…
Nashville church to be led by female co-pastoral team
NASHVILLE (ABP) — A Tennessee church that raised controversy after calling an openly gay woman to be an associate pastor has now elevated her to co-pastor — and called another woman from Georgia to complete the pastoral team. Nashville's Glendale…
North Carolina Baptists to keep plans that fund moderate causes (updated)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Nov. 15-17 voted to keep the convention's four giving plans intact, including the plan favored by moderates. Ted Stone, a freelance minister from…
California Baptists approve one resolution, bylaw changes
HIGHLAND, Calif. (ABP) — With the exception of several bylaw changes concerning the relationship of the California Southern Baptist Convention to its agencies, messengers to the convention's annual meeting approved a number of routine items with little debate. Messengers also…
Kentucky Baptists launch ministry plan, reject BWA study proposal
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — “Kentucky Baptists Connect,” an ambitious five-year ministry emphasis, was the primary focus of the Kentucky Baptist Convention's annual meeting Nov. 16-17 in Louisville. The business sessions, however, featured more division than connection. Messengers split their votes…
Alabama Baptists denounce gay marriage, decline to fund Baptist World Alliance
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) — Alabama Baptists passed resolutions against same-sex marriage and in favor of education and military chaplains. But they turned down an attempt to divert $30,000 from the Southern Baptist Convention to the Baptist World Alliance. Last June…
Will Rice as secretary of state alter U.S. foreign policy on persecution?
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The resignation of Secretary of State Colin Powell and President Bush's choice of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to replace him may not mean much change in the United States' foreign policy regarding religious-freedom issues, according to…