PHOENIX (ABP) – Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright met June 15 with a coalition asking the nation’s second-largest faith group to apologize for what they believe is damage to lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Jack McKinney (left) explains…
Southern Baptists support immigration reform
PHOENIX (ABP) – The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a debated resolution June 15 calling for “a just and compassionate path to legal status” for undocumented immigrants. President Obama supports immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for an estimated…
Southern Baptists ‘cannot commend’ new NIV Bible translation
PHOENIX (ABP) – The Southern Baptist Convention went on record June 15 saying it “cannot commend” the 2011 New International Version Bible translation and its use of gender-neutral language. “This is as big as it gets,” said Tim Overton of…
Opinion: The truth about the church
(ABP) — On Facebook this week some members of my church posted this phrase they saw on a church sign: “Visitors Welcome. Members Expected.” Another church member commented: “Pastor Amy would love this.” It’s true: I do. That Facebook post,…
Southern Baptists affirm doctrine of hell
PHOENIX (ABP) – The Southern Baptist Convention affirmed the reality of a literal hell June 15 in a resolution responding to Rob Bell’s Love Wins book that challenges traditional thinking about eternal damnation. Citing Bell’s book, the SBC resolution affirmed…
Southern Baptists re-elect president
PHOENIX (ABP) – Atlanta-area pastor Bryant Wright was re-elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention Tuesday afternoon. Wright, pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., received 95 percent of ballots cast. Wiley Drake, a former convention vice president,…
Southern Baptists issued ‘1 percent challenge’ for Cooperative Program
PHOENIX (ABP) – A Southern Baptist leader urged pastors June 14 to lead their congregations to increase the percentages of their budgets for the denomination by a percent. Frank Page, president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention,…
Executive Committee recommends changes for mission boards
PHOENIX (ABP) — The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention voted June 13 to recommend to convention messengers meeting June 14 in Phoenix changes to working agreements that will allow the International Mission Board to work directly with internationals…
Church buys apartment complex for intentional ministry
GREENVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — While some churches try to figure out how to gain access for ministry in neighboring apartment complexes, Oakmont Baptist Church in Greenville, N.C., just bought the place. Now the new landlord is moving forward to establish…