NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) –Membership in a group that welcomes and affirms gays does not automatically disqualify a church from participation in the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC Executive Committee decided Feb. 22. Two years ago the convention expelled a Texas…
SBC Executive Committee proposes funding cut
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention will ask messengers at this year's annual meeting to reduce its own share of the Cooperative Program unified budget by two-tenths of a percent in the first step…
SBC Executive Committee inaugurates new leader
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention gathered Feb. 21 to witness a new chapter in denominational life with the inauguration of Frank Page as president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee. Southern Baptist Convention leaders…
Bill Self, prominent CBF pastor, announces retirement plans
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (ABP) – The pastor of a leading church in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced Feb. 20 that he plans to retire after his successor is named. Bill Self, senior pastor of Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Ga.,…
Mother, son confess to stealing church funds
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (ABP) — A mother and son pleaded guilty in federal court Feb. 19 to stealing more than $1.5 million from a Southern Baptist church where the mother worked for 47 years. Barbara Whitt, 69, and Michael Whitt, 43,…
Huckabee draws heat for anti-Islam remarks
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Baptist preacher and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has landed in hot water for comments critical of Islam. The former Arkansas governor and potential 2012 presidential hopeful criticized two Protestant churches that opened their doors to Muslims…
Baptist disaster-relief pioneer reflects on lessons learned
DALLAS (ABP) — A Baptist disaster-relief pioneer has published a long-awaited memoir about more than 40 years of meeting human need. John LaNoue recounts examples of the “activity of God” in Texas Baptist Men disaster relief ministries during the dedication…
World Vision wins on ‘Jeopardy!’
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (ABP) — A Christian relief organization won big in a man-versus-machine contest pitting a computer against two human champions on the TV game show Jeopardy! Watson, the computer designed to rival a human's ability to answer questions…
Gospel writers harmonize; they don’t sing the melody of Jesus in unison
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Reading the Gospels is less like listening to a solo than to a choir singing in four-part harmony, a Duke University scholar said at the 2011 Winter Pastors’ School at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. Richard Hays,…
Motorcycle wreck kills Baptist pastor
EDMOND, Okla. (ABP) — A prominent Southern Baptist pastor in Oklahoma died Feb. 16 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle wreck. Alan Day Alan Day, 62, pastor of First Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla., for more than 25 years, reportedly…
Tom Elliff nominated as IMB president
RICHMOND, Va. — Tom Elliff, a longtime Oklahoma pastor and former missionary, has been nominated to be president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. Elliff, 66, is the choice of a 15-member search committee to succeed Jerry Rankin,…
Tom Elliff nominee for new IMB president
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Tom Elliff, a former longtime pastor and missionary, is the unanimous choice of a 15-member search committee for a new president of the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board, according to Baptist Press. Elliff, 66, will…